


House Husband

by istilllikekhr



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: 20YL, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, background Mukuro/Haru, background Ryohei/Hana, midlife crisis basically, there will be more people but ykno id rather not confirm anything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25199608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/istilllikekhr/pseuds/istilllikekhr
Summary: After Tsuna forces a vacation on Hibari, he has to learn how to deal with too much free time.
Relationships: Hibari Kyouya & Vongola Tenth Generation, Hibari Kyouya/Yamamoto Takeshi
Comments: 65
Kudos: 53





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. This is my first time writing anything...ever, and I wanted to contribute something to my favorite pairing ever. I would greatly appreciate any feedback, especially since I am VERY amateur and English is not my first language and also very poor revision. Thank you!

The entire thing was simply ridiculous.

Being called into Sawada office was already an unusual event, both men preferring the more private space inside Foundation walls. The Japanese atmosphere was familiar and honestly missed, so the little refuge was appreciated for business, mission relays and private discussions. The exception being direct orders that were to be followed word by word, executed with perfection and no questions asked.

So being called there, just to hear he needs a _vacation_?

“Mhh? What’s wrong, Hibari-san?” Tsuna said, tilting his head innocently to the side.

A _forced_ vacation?

“How unusual to see you so shocked! Is there anything I may help you with? Traveling destinations, maybe? I admit I have been eyeing Paris lately, but with all the negations for th-”

”Sawada, what the fuck?’’ the sudden interruption from the older man didn’t even make Tsuna neither flinch nor drop his cynical smile. After 20 years old being the boss of an organization that dealt with frankly the worst of the worst, he had experienced far more aggressive (and rude) ways of being cutoff.

Getting up from his chair, Tsuna made his way very slowly to the window just beside his desk, feeling the icy stare of Hibari all the way. Gokudera complained endlessly about said window ever since they moved in, but even if it was not as safe the original pseudo-bunker-underground plan, it was a constant friendly reminder of what they were fighting for. Seeing the gentle breeze kiss the flowers, the little birds that made nest in the nearby branches, the shy sunlight that at the end of the afternoon warmed up his callused fingers was more than enough to not fall into the same temptations that twisted the valiant vigilante group into what it became before the tenth generation came in.

Also great for dramatic effect. At this moment it was being used for the second reason.

"You are slipping.” He said simply.

From being forced into vacationing, to hear that he was ‘’slipping’’, it was simply too much to bear. Since it was Tsuna, the man he has been following for more than half of his life, he had no shame in dropping the cool guy act for a little bit. But before he could even get an angry reply out, his boss continued on with what he was saying.

“Your work is still as excellent as ever. Detailed and precise. But I have been reading your reports for a long time, and I can tell when you are not being able to give your all. And this has been happening for the past four months at least.”

The smile was gone, replaced by a genuinely concerned face.

“I understand your surprise, but I ask of you to consider my point of view. From all your years of service, I have never seen you being out of it for such a long period of time.’’ Tsuna turned to face his guardian, which by this point managed to gather some composure. ‘’Burnout is a very serious matter.’’

Half a minute passed with no reply, Hibari choosing very carefully his words, as to not dig his own grave deeper than it already was.

“Sawada’’ Hibari finally replied, tone calm and clear ‘’this is unnecessary. I am not burning out and the sheer amount of paperwork that would be left for me to do in my return would be extremely counterproductive if the matter is stress. I am not a child and I can handle it.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about that, all your future business matters and papers have already been dealt with! Tetsuya has been an amazing ally, no wonder why you choose him to be so close to you!” And he was back to the cheerful demeanor, while Hibari was dealing with the sudden betrayal of his right-hand man.

Tetsu was going to hear _a lot_ about it in a near future. Also going to get another raise is his salary, for both the amount of work he was going to do and the fact that he managed to organize this right under his nose. Good behavior should be rewarded too, even if it hurts to admit.

As for the vacation, Hibari learned through the years to elegantly know when there was no point of continuing a lost argument. But he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“One month.”

“Four months.”

“ _One. Month.”_

“ _Two. Months_ ” at this point, Tsuna was just mocking.

Fully realizing that, the cloud guardian recognized that there was nothing more to gain from continuing the little _situation._ Getting up quietly, he looked at his boss.

“Fine.’’ And left.

No arguing endlessly, no negotiation and no physical fight, meant something for both parties.

For Hibari, that _maybe_ he was truly a little bit tired and could use the free time to take care of his minor business.

For Tsuna, it was simply the confirmation that something was indeed very wrong. For now, all he could hope for was for his guardian to see the same.

\--

“So, how did it go with Tsuna?’’ Yamamoto said while stopping the car at a red light, taking the chance to look at his partner face.

“He is forcing me to retire early” Hibari replied very bitterly, ego still bruised from losing an argument. He knows its _Tsuna_ , master of sweet talking he lost to, but it hurt regardless.

“Aw, c’mon! He would never. And honestly, as _if_ someone could drag you away from this anyway, unless you wanted to. Considering the grumpy face, I don’t think you do just yet.’’ A teasing smile appeared in his face, in contrast to Hibari very-annoyed frown.

“Two entire months out of work.”

“That’s wonderful! Imagine all the naps you could take! You have been skipping too many of them already.”

If it wasn’t for the light turning green, Hibari would have grabbed Yamamoto tie to see if the other man still had any sense left in him.

Two months truly wasn’t a lot of time normally. But in the current mafia-sphere? Families, alliances, contracts, fights, assassinations and everything in-between was happening at an extremely accelerated pace. The Vongola boss has been working endlessly for the reformation of the underworld, and now with the pieces already fallen into place, all he was doing was making sure everything went smoothly to the end. Being so accelerated, there was an obvious counter-movement from those who insisted in keeping their business dirty, but deep down, they knew Tsuna would get what he wanted.

Regardless of the reasons for change, Hibari was already stressing out just from thinking what he would have to catch up in the future. For sure, after his stupid little failed vacation ended, he would put this on the list of reasons why he should never be out of the job again.

By the time they got to their home, there was already at least seven fully developed bullet points for his hate list.

“To commemorate, I’ll make us some sushi! It has been a little while.” Yamamoto said taking off his shoes and going directly into the kitchen, not forgetting to give his boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek.

Sitting down to take off his own, the cloud guardian sighed.

It was going to be long two months.


	2. Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari decides to be evil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really fun to write. A small fact: this chapter has 1880 words. 
> 
> Feedback is greatly appreciated, be it on the writing itself or gramatical errors. Thank you!

“Hey… I’m leaving. Love you.” Yamamoto whispered, placing a kiss on Hibari head, being as delicate as possible. Usually, at this hour, they would be getting into the car together, but things would be different for a little while. He will miss it, but he missed his boyfriend having a decent night of sleep way more.

“Mhh” was all that he heard in response, while he watched the other man hoarding the extra blankets and snuggling his face deeper into the pillow.

_Cutie._ With that finishing thought, he left as quietly as possible to the Vongola Mansion.

\--

It was 8:13 AM when Hibari got up. It certainly wasn’t late by any means, but not only his internal clock was still used to getting up at 5, he also had a very important (personal) mission to go on.

The first day was dedicated to see how far Tsuna went to isolate him from any resemblance of responsibility. To his disappointment, it was very far. His personal computer was gone. His passwords were changed. None of his employees would pick up the calls. Tetsu at least picked up, but immediately hung up whenever work was brought up. It would also be pointless to bother any of the other guardians, since none were involved with his personal projects and they did not have any authority to give missions. Perhaps the creepiest of all was the fact that even the few physical documents that were in his home mysteriously disappeared. He wasn’t worried about security; it was just very uncomfortable thinking that there might be things going right over his head lately. If things got really desperate, he could just go to the Vongola Mansion and destroy everything until Tsuna gave his life back, but the plan had a few fatal flaws: first, there were at least two people that could stop him (Tsuna due to raw power and the hyper-intuition, and Yamamoto due to his rain flames) and second, even if he broke the entire world, it did not guarantee anything, might as well spend the energy to make a carefully crafted plan that would give him access at least so _something._

…It was kind of weird he was passing an opportunity for an excellent spar session against people he honestly considered the most formidable of fighters, but surely, it wasn’t due to any ‘’burn out’’. It just wasn’t productive, unlike all the other times he started fights for no reason other than having fun.

Having failed successfully, he sat down, still in pajamas, at the very comfortable sofa they had in the living room. With the windows obstructed, the only source of light was the stray rays of sunshine that the curtains didn’t manage to cover. In the poorly lit room, Hibari Kyoya looked at the ceiling and considered his options.

The personal computer was gone, but they left the ‘’other one’’. It was just a shitty backup laptop in case of emergencies, but it had internet and could access anything that normal people usually used. Phone was also in his hands, even if a good part of the contacts were not picking up. His credit cards and general money situation was still fully in his control. His passport and driving licenses for both car and motorcycle were also untouched. Clearly, he was left with full freedom to do anything he could think of, except the thing that gladly consumed most of his time.

Annoyed or not, he was and would never be the type to sulk and cry to himself over getting his toys taken away. Neither would he just quietly accept his fate, but for now, he decided the best course of action would to make some food. It was Hibird feeding time and he didn’t bother with breakfast for himself either, too concentrated on seeing how far his power has been taken away.

Another disappointment appeared when opening the fridge. It was mostly empty, witch exactly three leftover sushis from last night, a container with mysterious meat, two cans of cheap beer and a shitty broccoli. No fresh vegetables for his little birds, and not enough to feed himself either. Clinging onto a last piece of hope, he checked the cupboards and there weren’t even any seeds left, probably used yesterday already.

Just _how long ago_ they did any decent groceries? Yes, they were both extremely busy these days, but this was simply shameful. It was actually a surprise that they had any ingredients for sushi last night. A small thought passed rapidly in his mind if Takeshi wasn’t at least a little bit behind it all and planned to smooth things out with good food, but even if it was true, so what of it? He could give him a good tonfa beating, but didn’t change the fact the fridge was a tragedy.

Luckily, Hibird hasn’t showed up just yet, probably still enjoying a nice pre-lunch flight. The other…seventeen Hibirds were also nowhere to be seen, which meant at least he could take his time buying anything he needed. Suddenly, in a stroke of genius, he had the most devilish idea.

If dear Takeshi was indeed smoothing out things with food, evil Kyouya could do the same. Using the perfect opportunity of a delicious and extremely rare home cooked meal made by the cloud guardian, it was simply the perfect way to not only extract some updates of the current situation, but in the best case scenario, even get himself to access his missing files.

Smiling very smugly, he took his phone and quickly searched for ‘’Yamamoto Takeshi’’ in his contact list, sending a very simple message:

‘ _What would you like for dinner, and when are you coming home?’_

The reply was fast.

‘ _i want those chicken dumpling you made once and at 7!! luv u’,_ followed by a kissy emoji.

A simple recipe he was very confident on. With newfound motivation, he changed his clothes, made a list of what to buy and confidently stepped out of the house to put the evil plan to work.

\--

Considering how much he needed to buy, the trip only being two hours was actually not that bad. Still, it was quite inconvenient, but as far as punishment for letting such a basic thing as the fridge not being empty go ignored for god knows how long, it was lenient.

Coming back, before anything else, he needed to make sure his birds were fed. For sure, when he took a quick glance at the small sanctuary in the backyard, there were Hibird and the other…now nineteen Hibirds. Patient and polite for sure, but their little black eyes were watching the kitchen like hawks.

Not to make them wait any longer, Hibari put on an apron and worked into their meal. Making good use of the fresh vegetables he bought at the local market, he sliced into tiny pieces and mixed with seeds of all kinds and fruits, extra as an apology for waiting. After placing it all on a bowl and elegantly putting it on the garden, letting himself watch the pets for a little while.

The situations where he could feed Hibirds at this time were actually rare. Usually being at the mansion, he just could not make the trip back, even if they didn’t really live that far, having to rely on automatic feeders the vast majority of days. Even rarer were the situations where he could just stop and observe their movements. For others, it might seem like all the Hibirds were the same, but he could tell each one apart. The original, being so polite and nice, was eating slowly. Hibird 9, the rowdy one, was making a small mess of the seeds, and Hibird 4 was being mean by eating a lot of the extra fruit. It actually amazed Kyoya how different each one was, and how much he learned from just watching. He would not admit it out loud, but it was one of the aspects he missed the most of his school days, just surrounded by the yellow puffballs, having the luxury of simply existing near them.

…But now, nostalgia had to go into second plan. He had to put his evil plan into motion and for that, chicken dumplings had to be made. They were not difficult, but it took some time and the very evil plan had other steps too, all planned during his supply-run.

Going into the kitchen, he started, whisking, mixing, and frying anything that the recipe demanded. After it was done, it was already 6:47 and Takeshi could arrive at any moment. Quickly, he took a shower and dressed into a familiar pair of pajama shorts and shirt, plain black and high quality material. It was very unusual attire for him at this hour, but he knew his boyfriend simply loved this lazy assemble. He explained it was something about the contrast of the cool and aloof cloud guardian wearing such casual clothes, but Kyoya was more sold on the ‘’nice legs’’ theory.

With the last step being to simply set the table and wait, that is what he did, with the company of Hibird, perched in the top of his head.

\--

At 7:09, Yamamoto arrived, and was immediately surprised by Hibari receiving him right at the entrance, with arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Welcome. You are late” it might have sounded like the other man was complaining, but there was no annoyance in his voice.

“Oooh, I missed those shorts”, he said, while already taking off his shoes. In Hibari head, he could hear the little commemoration of his evil plan going exactly as planned. “Hi! How is my little domestic goddess doing?” he added, placing a hand on Kyoya waist, pulling closer.

“Worse after I heard that. Come, dinner is ready” voice still lacking any malice, he made his way into the kitchen, followed close by the hitman.

When they arrived, he could hear the surprised gasp of his lover. After a couple of ‘’amazing” and “delicious”, they finally sat down.

The dinner itself was filled with light conversation, most of it coming from Yamamoto, with the occasional addition and question by Hibari. No mention of work, just whatever crossed their minds, jumping from topic to topic.

It had actually been a while since the two could sit down for dinner like this, being able to simply enjoy the time together. Not only often one would get held up at the mansion, when they actually came home at the same time, often both had things to do still and could not sit down for long. The moment was precious and for the entire thing, Kyoya didn’t even think about his evil plan, just listening to his boyfriend. The constant praise of his cooking also helped.

But it was fine to forget for now. The tiger that strikes too early doesn’t get fed, and he was going to follow this made-up saying religiously. If he was going to betrayal Takeshi trust, he had to do it right.

The dishes could wait until tomorrow, and the plan had to brew for some time too, and so, they went to bed together a little bit early, being extra sleepy from eating one too many dumplings.


	3. Romantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari decides to be romantic.

After four days, the high of creating his little plan was already fading. Considering how out of character it was to show the fact that he cared, it actually took very little thought to just do it. Be cute while he is leaving, sleep again, do some basic cleaning, shoot a message in the evening to see if Takeshi wants anything specific for dinner, say welcome at the door, have dinner and spend their time left together however they see fit. It was very disappointing since this was supposed to fill out time until he could get any info and start working again, but it was occupying a few hours at most, and even that still depended on the complexity of the recipe. At the very least the nights were full, but the entire morning and evening were vacant.

He could just scrub again and again any surface that wasn’t yet shining, but most of it was already taken care of in the first few days. Even when they were both busy, Hibari would rather lose sleep than see dust bunnies and dishes accumulating in the sink. He could play with his own birds, but at the end of the day, they were still birds and preferred the liberty of outdoors, stretching their wings and flying to whatever they pleased. He could try talking to Takeshi during the day, but he respected the hitman enough to not distract him out of boredom. A part of him was also enjoying their talks during dinner enough that catching up felt like cheapening it up. Adding even more to that, he simply wasn’t a fan of texting. It didn’t convey anything that he adored of the conversations between the two men. There was no laying around in the dark, very comfortable to be as open as they wanted and yet, knowing it just wasn’t quite to that point (they both would, eventually), no subtle changes in tone when certain topics came up after the night progressed or the number of drinks had passed a certain threshold, no respectful silence when one would say something personal, no looks that conveyed their feelings better than any words, no little touches that would make them reach for more every time. It was in that state of pure intimacy that Hibari loved Yamamoto the most. The man was just too interesting, too sincere and too reciprocal not to.

Wolf in sheep's clothing. Sheep in wolf’s clothing. The friendly Vongola rain guardian that would not hesitate to cut down entire mafia families if it meant to protect those he loved. The hardened hitman that even after more than a decade in the job still saw life as something precious and in the worst of days, struggled to accept the fact that if he didn’t kill, those close to him would have to suffer the consequences. The flip-flop between these two states had confused and annoyed Hibari in the past, being unable to classify him as an herbivore or carnivore, but at this point in the game, he accepted that some incredible individuals could surpass his own expectations for others.

...he could think for a long time about the things that made him choose Yamamoto as his partner, but it just could not fill the gaping hole in activities he was experiencing for the next two months. 

The topic of Yamamoto might just be enough for today though. Routine could get stale and the most important thing right now was to make every day feel a little special. For that purpose, in his mind at least, the best solution was a romantic night.

Technically, what they were doing in the past week could be considered romantic already. Going home to your loved one, having dinner together, spending the rest of your day in their company, but it wasn’t _romantic_ romantic. For this, he wanted to go all out, checking every box of the very cheesy shitty-c-list-film things to do. Yes, Yamamoto would laugh wholeheartedly at the sheer absurdity of it, but as long as he was genuinely happy, Hibari would stand being made fun of for a few seconds.

Most of the planning job had already been done for him. The endless list of overly dramatic romantic films he and Takeshi watched when drunk just to get a quick laugh was paying off and he knew exactly what to get.

A quick trip to the usual store was enough to get any supply he didn’t have already, only missing fresh fish, the atmospheric candles (it was just regular ones, but it was enough) and a huge bouquet of red roses. He wasn’t the most skilled at making sushi yet, but it was Takeshi favorite food and he learned a thing or two during the years, be it from watching his boyfriend cook or asking directly to Tsuyoshi, who was more than happy to teach.

Getting home, it was time to choose what to wear for the event. He had an idea, but it took an embarrassing amount of time to gather the courage. He had worn it before, but the occasions were so far and in-between that he never managed to get fully used to it. It was… a simple set of red lace lingerie, complete with choker, that Yamamoto, years ago, asked him to wear during his birthday. He only lived to see another day because it was a birthday request and Hibari also refused to be defeated by a piece of clothing, but it wasn’t as easy as he hoped. He did not feel like it fit him well, even if miraculously Yamamoto found a pair that was more suited to his body type, and it was so out of his traditional clothing choices that it was hard to stay into his usual confidence. However, the other man was always absolutely ecstatic to see Hibari wearing this, so for this one night, he was going to go this extra mile. To add the element of surprise, he would wear a yukata over it, waiting for the dramatic reveal when they decided to go to the bedroom. He amused himself a little imagining Takeshi face for the curtain drop.

Still having too much to do before taking a bath, he left the lingerie on the bed and went on to plan the layout. The candles alone couldn’t bring enough light to be pratical, but he would still try to put as many as he could, making sure not to run into any fire hazards. They would eat at the living room table, instead of the kitchen this time, also using the proper set-up instead of what was easier to wash. A few rose petals here and there, most being saved to put on the bed, trying to get the lighting just low enough to be romantic but not too dark…he was surprised at how much he was putting into this, but it was simply because he had to, not because he liked it in any shape or form, obviously.

Satisfied on how it turned out, it was finally time to take a bath. After using his favorite shampoo and soap, all he really needed to finish his part was to know at what hour Takeshi would arrive. Sitting on the bed, as he was unlocking his phone, a message popped up.

“ _i wont come home today, sudden mission came up. sorry, don’t wait for me, love you”_

Ah.

His shoulders dropped a little and the grip on his phone got weaker. Before throwing it gently on the bed, he gave a simple reply.

“ _Don’t die pathetically_.”

The uncomfortable cold feeling of disappointment, followed by a small amount of embarrassment was setting on him while he stared at the ceiling, lying on his back. Considering it was a surprise, at least part of him should have seen the possibility of it being ruined by other events. And yet, it genuinely didn’t cross his mind at all. Maybe he was getting too used to the recent slow pace of the past few days. Failure should have been the first thing on his mind for something like this.

All he really wanted to do right now was to get rid of the set up. Putting back the lingerie deep into the closet and putting on his pajamas, he went on to put all the candles back into the package and threw any rose petals he found in the trash. Not really wanting to spend any more energy, he just ordered some overpriced junk food and ate while watching a random series in the dark. It didn’t help cheering him up, but it was what he could do for right now. Maybe he also wanted someone to blame, but it would be pointless. Yamamoto couldn’t control when emergencies showed up, and neither did Tsuna. Maybe he was just extra bitter from not being able to do anything. 

Not the proper time for theories though, brain fogged by tiredness and the unfamiliar feeling of sadness lasting for longer than expected. He went to sleep in a lone bed, with the smell of roses still lingering in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mapped out what I want from this, and hopefully will be able to write in the following weeks. Thank you for reading, feedback is always welcome.


	4. Thinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari decides to think.

Hibari awakening was rather unusual the day after.

It was not as if he was a morning person, but the obligations he had to attend were enough motivation to leave bed as soon as possible. While an early start didn’t guarantee an early finish, a late one was a sure chance to kill any hopes of getting home before it was already deep into the night.

…but as of right now, he had nothing grandiose to do, not even having the excuse of entertaining Yamamoto for a little while before he left. Running through the mental list of what he had planned, the most he could conjure was ‘’clean house’’, ‘’feed birds’’ and ‘’get groceries’’. Number one didn’t take long; number two was a time-specific and the last neither took much time nor had any guarantee of happening if the fridge still had enough into it. Feeling a little heavy from eating junk food last night and the comfortable cold atmosphere of the morning that went perfectly with the almost pitch black room gave all the more reason to sink deeper into the warm, fluffy sheets and go back to sleeping. And truly, he was just about to do that, but as he was turning his body to change positions, he ended up hitting the sleeping body beside him with an unexpected elbow to the back.

For the first time in years, Hibari Kyoya got surprised enough to make a (very very low) whimper, and for the first time in years, Yamamoto Takeshi got irritated enough to make a dissatisfied grumble.

‘’Good morning to you too, dear.’’ said Yamamoto, sitting up and shooting a displeased glance at Hibari. ‘’Was that an accident?’’

‘’You came home early. I was not expecting company for the night.” He sincerely wasn’t, since missions could be short, but they hardly took a few _hours._ Even if they did, it probably already took another few hours to drive whenever they needed to be, being more practical to stay in a nearby hotel. A _sudden mission_ that required _the second strongest guardian_ and happened close enough for him to return so soon and so deep inside Vongola set off all the alarms in Hibaris head.

‘’Don’t worry; I got home, like, half an hour ago. I was just falling asleep anyway.” His tone was already a bit softer, understanding the implication of innocence from the other men words.

Taking advantage of Yamamoto current nakedness and position, Hibari tried to gather some more information. His face showed the obvious lack of sleep, with eyes adorned with bags and lacking the usual sharpness behind it, but no injuries to speak of. His left shoulder had a small patch of bandages covering it and his ribs gained an ugly bruise overnight. Legs couldn’t be proper analyzed, still covered by the sheets. Overall, nothing major and yet…Hibari couldn’t help but think there was something amiss with this too. Yamamoto was skilled enough to come back from any mission with only insignificant shallow cuts, but a shoulder and rib injury, however minor, was something that only an above average enemy could inflict on the hitman, defenses honed by the years. 

Whatever happened last night, it couldn’t possibly be small.

Yamamoto leaned back on the bed, covering his mouth as he let out a yawn. ‘’Man, aging does sucks sometimes. I was able to stay awake so easily and now just one missed night and bam!” he gestured his hands for added dramatic effect. “I really should have taken a nap before.”

Hibari just stared at his partner, hoping that his current expression didn’t denounce how much his mind was working to understand the current situation. Being left in the shadows was annoying, yes, but if he was being left out of something potentially big, it raised some hard questions. Yamamoto was a smart man when it came to read people, Hibari in particular, so even if he was being a good actor, the other man would eventually catch up to his internal conflict. This possibility was bad on all fronts, busting part of his plan to get back his life and making it harder to get any new information. Looking for a quick escape, he had to use one of his aces. “Would you like breakfast, Takeshi?”

Taking a few seconds to consider the very rare question, Yamamoto replied quite excitedly “Really? Oh, I have been dying for some omel-”as he was getting out of the bed, both his movement and speech was interrupted by a gentle hand to the chest, pressing him down.

“Stay. I’ll bring it here” If his eyes were shining before, now they were beaming. After getting a very happy ‘Okay’ as a reply, Hibari made his way into the kitchen.

The addition of making breakfast for his lover was supposed to happen later, but he really needed to collect his thoughts for a moment. While cooking, Hibari started to list the things that were out of the norm.

A (apparently) surprise mission. This could potentially be the least glaring factor, if it was truly unexpected, since there only so much one could control the events of fate in their favor. However, it happened too close to comfort and it wasn’t any crooks that would be able to infiltrate Vongola territory undetected and cause damage to one of their best. It had to be someone, or some mafia family, that had a level of competency, expendable staff or luck beyond the expected.

Another factor that suddenly came to the table of weirdness was the fact that…Takeshi, for the entire week save yesterday, was coming home consistently at the same early hour. Being too distracted with his own devilish ideas, it was easy to let it slide since it helped to create the good husband persona he needed, but something like this happening was extremely rare due to the unpredictable nature of the job, unless, obviously, Tsuna wanted it to.

It still wasn’t clear if this happened in a conscious level or it was the works of the trademark hyper-intuition, but whenever something big, be it hard task, an isolated hit somewhere, an invasion of large scale or a difficult negotiation, Tsuna would often ‘’make up’’ for it before it would be announced. Last year, before being tasked to deal with a crucial negotiation between Vongola and some small (but brimming with trade potential) family, Hibari had his requests for spar sessions with the sky user actually accepted for four entire days straight.

And yet, whatever happened last night didn’t feel big enough for any Tsuna-approved compensation, not with the limited information he was mostly speculating on. The ominous possibility that something big was about to happen soon and that he was being left out of it would be enough justification to storm the Vongola mansion and demand answers, but he would need actual evidence before just charging in blindly. With the current sample size of one, he needed to expand his scope, and the home arrest situation might just come in handy for once.

It would be useless to ask directly, but under the pretense of catching up with the other guardian’s private life, they might just end up at the very least give an indirect confirmation if Sawada was being lenient on anyone else.

By the time he was done with theories, breakfast was ready. Getting a tray and throwing some bread for himself, he went back to their bedroom.

The almost sleeping Yamamoto jumped up when he saw his boyfriend enter, and quickly some of his tiredness was forgotten when the tray was set on a comfortable and safe position. Sitting at his side, Hibari waited for Yamamoto to taste his creation. It was a little out of his comfort zone and he might not be ready to consciously admit it, but he actually started to take pride into his cooking and would start over entire recipes in no time if it wasn’t up to his standards.

It didn’t take long for the answer, and after a couple of ‘Amazings’ and just general pleased noises, Hibari started to munch on his own bread, ego satisfied with validation.

“I mean, really, you have been so good at the kitchen! I always thought that your secret talent would be knitting, turns out it was cooking all long!” A few seconds passed with no reply.

“..Why would it be knitting?”

Unexpectedly stuttering to reply and with a shy blush in his cheeks, Yamamoto said very softly “W-well, it’s just, you know, it’s just intricate work and you are good at this type of thing, and you, you could make cute clothes for Hibird! And that would-“ he interrupted himself when he saw Hibari expression, smugly smiling just a tiny bit and one eyebrow raised. He unleashed something and had to go all the way now.

“Okay. I just want…a handmade scarf. No idea why, but I have been obsessed with the concept since age fifteen. It’s just…just so fluffy.” At this point, he was staring intently at the half-finished omelet, avoiding Hibari _so smug_ gaze. How adolescent this two were acting.

Using the most victorious tone he could muster at that time in the morning, he replied “I would punish you for projecting, but you may live another day because you were sincere.”

The light atmosphere continued in comfortable silence until Yamamoto was at the last bite. Stopping the fork halfway, he stared at it for a few seconds before looking at the other man face intently.

“…feed me.” Hibari, who at this point had finished his own meal and was going thru his collection of Hibird pictures, stared back with a blank face, waiting a reasonable explanation.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the shame of admitting an innocent romantic fantasy, but Yamamoto was determined to get something back for it. “It’s my reward for being an honest, good person.”

The blankness was replaced with the rare incredulous expression of Hibari Kyoya. “You used that credit to stay alive. No returns” Defeated, Yamamoto was about to finish on his own, just to get surprised at the fork being taken from his hand in the last second. “However, you didn’t die pathetically. This is the bare minimum in my eyes, but since I do not know the difficulty of the mission, you may have this one.”

All the rain guardian did as a reaction was to give a sincere laugh and wait for his reward.

\--

Leaving Yamamoto to sleep in peace, Hibari left the dishes on the sink and set his now second plan in motion. It would be easier to start with the guardians that already wanted to hang out with Hibari but were usually denied. Having the perfect target in mind, he shot a quick message to Ryohei Sasagawa.

“ _Let’s go out to drink.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was also very fun to write! Feedback is always welcome, thank you for reading!


	5. Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari decides to get drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Writing this chapter was really difficult, not because I was dealing with anything or that it's amazingly written or the subject was really hard, but the fact that I am a super amateur hit hard, especially since I adore these two and wanted to make justice of their friendship :'D Hope it's enjoyable anyway.

Two days later, Ryohei appeared on the doorstep of the current Yamamoto/Hibari household, fifteen minutes earlier than the arranged hour, and with many questions to fill the night. The biggest one would be why, since while Hibari learned the joys of being drunk with Yamamoto, he still was very adverse to the idea of drinking outside the comfort of his home. And, frankly, even if Ryohei loved seeing Hibari drunk, he understood. If the cloud guardian wanted to keep appearances, it was easier to do so while not being seen stumbling onto his own feet or saying anything that came to his mind.

Yeah, it might be silly to care about such things when you are one of the most physically powerful men alive, but it mattered to Hibari, so it mattered to Ryohei too.

All the other questions would be secondary, but they held the same importance to the sun guardian. What has Hibari been doing at home? How has he been feeling? How are things going with Yamamoto? When they were going to get married? Was he going to be one of the bes-

“Ryohei Sasagawa.” Jumping a little from having his thoughts suddenly interrupted, the boxer turned to the figure leaning onto the doorframe, who by another miracle and a change of pace, looked impressed by what was in front of him. “Early and quiet arrival. Have you finally learned manners?”

“Just showing some gratitude over you learning the power of friendship and alcohol.”

Now, the previously-impressed man looked like he was about to puke in pure disgust. “Only one of those is true. Figure it out yourself.” Ignoring the boxer presence, Hibari made his way to the black car waiting. “Bring me somewhere decent this time around.”

“I only know good places! You may even say _extre-_ ”

“Don’t dare ruining the night with catchphrases.” The death glare would have made Ryohei jump in the past, but now, all it caused was a (controlled) laugh.

“So no biting to death today either?” His question went unanswered as Hibari entered the car. He soon followed, as antsy as his friend, because a miracle had happened and he wasn’t going to waste it.

That night was going to be _extremely_ fun.

__

The part where Ryohei said he _only_ knew good places might not be true, having dragged his friends to ‘’super amazing’’ bar that ended up being way less than stellar (and getting properly scolded and/or beaten by the more aggressive ones) but he wasn’t risking anything tonight. The duo arrived at a quaint little bar, and a quick look at Hibari face was enough confirmation that the choice had indeed been the right one. The red brick front didn’t have any fancy decorations, only bearing the necessary wood door, a simple silver plaque indicating the name and a rectangular window that allowed any passerby to take a look at the warm atmosphere provided by the orange lights and wood decoration.

As the guardians entered, a middle-aged woman came to the door, smiling gently. After a quick exchange with Ryohei, they were escorted down a small corridor and finally, to a private room that contained the same wooded decoration at the entrance, but now adapted to serve only two people. In the background, was a low smooth tune playing. After having their orders taken, the men were left alone. 

“So, should I ask why now or wait for you to get drunk?”

Hibari rolled his eyes hard, crossing his arms. “I am a normal adult that gets the urge to drink like anyone else.”

“Maybe! But like… not GOING OUT to drink, you know? Maybe…” Ryohei let out a gasp, accompanied by wide eyes and a hand covering his mouth “Have the holidays gotten to your head that bad?” he said, using the best concerned mother tone he knew. In response, Hibari swiftly kicked Ryohei’s shin under the desk.

“I am enjoying it just fine.”

“…Really?”

Their conversation was momentarily interrupted by a server, bringing a bottle of Italian red wine and several beers. Cracking one of them open, Ryohei continued his thought.

“...You know, that actually makes me happy.” He paused to take a few sips of the beer. “I was getting extr- very worried that you might just… You know…” The glass of wine in Hibari’s hand stopped in the middle of the way to his mouth.

“Know _what_?”

“You can get weird when it comes to work. You like it way too much, you know? It’s like work is both your… well, work and your hobby. Not healthy, man.”

“I don’t understand where any of you are coming from. Considering all my obligations, I manage to have plenty of free time without anyone else forcibly changing my schedule, thank you.”

Ryohei incredulous face managed only to further annoy Hibari. “Yeah? Tell me the last time you and Yamamoto managed to get some time for each other?”

“We _always_ have time for each other.”

“I don’t mean 30 minutes of being tired before going to bed. I mean, stuff like, aquarium dates or beating each other up for fun. Or hot springs! You two love that stuff. Who doesn’t, but that’s beside the point.”

Hibari stopped to think before replying with the first insult that came to mind. As much as he hated to admit, Ryohei was right. Before his vacation, it had been a long time since the two had quality time together. It wasn’t like the past few months were absolute garbage, but tiredness and lack of free time from both parts did make it harder to do anything outside routine. Love alone wasn’t enough to surpass neither the need of proper rest nor the effects of constant stress and work, after all.

“It ridiculous to think that would need an intervention. It’s not like we would have worked like that for much longer, anyway.”

Ryohei punched the table for emphasis. “All I hear are excuses! And when was the last time you even did anything for yourself? Read a book? Pet a puppy? Do your nails? Knit? Huh? Ow, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why people think I knit?” and after another kick to the shin “Don’t destroy tables, we are still sober.”

“You don’t?” the genuine confusion in Ryohei voice made Hibari think that after getting back into the office, he should work harder to discover any other outrageous rumors that involved his free time. “Dude, you really should. Hana got this guides some time ago and…”

And by that point, their conversation wandered.

__

Hibari made a mistake. Said mistake was letting Ryohei start the conversation, and not because it wasn’t being enjoyable. In fact, this was only adding to his regrets. It would not have been hard to just ask how Ryohei life was going right at the start and getting what he wanted out of it, but now that he was going on about the secret spaghetti recipe with crumbs Hibari just had to hear it till the end.

The fact he already had two glasses also didn’t help one bit. Ryohei managed to drink three beers, but the boxer tolerance was much higher. Hibari now was wrestling with his tipsy brain to not forget the point in the first place, not to appear too drunk and making sure he did not forget the recipe. In this battle, he could simply not fit any hope of being subtle or graceful. He was only going to get drunker, so he might as well shoot his shot.

“…but even if feels right, you can’t just fry it like any other food, you know? It won’t taste right.”

Straightening his back, perhaps with a little too much force behind it, Hibari just went for it. “Enough of food. Tell me about your life.” Ryohei just looked for a bit, and then, started to slowly smile, happy that wow, Hibari was actually caring about him?

“Surprisingly tame. Not too much mafiaing around. The baby and Hana are fine. Hmm…” a few seconds passed, and suddenly it was as if a lightbulb lit above his head. “And we are planning a family vacation! Oh my fucking GOD, you two should come with us!” he stretched out his arms, as if asking for a hug.

Hibari would have plenty of time the next morning to dissect this statement if the hangover wasn’t that bad, but now, his brain found much more interest into arguing the second part of the statement.

“I am already suffering with one vacation. I will not be able to stand two. And with crowding? Count me out.”

“Hibari, you are not thinking this through. Just, think, just like, think for a second how fun it will be. Ok?”

“…Giving you one chance.”

“Just, use your imagination, ok? Think about you and Yams, on the beach, with sexy trunks or whatever, relaxing, sipping vacation juice, looking all fancy, while little Yui is making cute sandcastles and me and Hana look also sexy in swimsuits… it will be so much fun…”

“…Are you too going to use us as free babysitters?”

“Yeah! But also like, the hotel we are looking into has kids entertainment so everyone can get adult time. And Yui loves you so much, and I know uncle Hibari also loves her” he said, as he put his hands on his waist and gave out a knowing smile.

That was the simple truth and drunk or not, Hibari would never deny his love for the little niece. He was always great with kids, but little Yui got the vantage of looking like a fluffy white chicken when her hair was short, and Hibari heart (secretly) melted over the fact. The prospects of having a good, relaxing time with both his boyfriend and friends…didn’t sound so bad. But he was going to play hard to get.

“Not enough. Make a better offer. I am already struggling to fill my time at home, I can’t imagine it at the beach.”

And then, Ryohei put out a smug smile, as if he was already waiting to use his ace. “The beach there is private. It also has that weird kind of hard sand that hurts to run on barefoot despite if being sand. This means that if we go there late enough, we can get ourselves an extremely amazing sparring arena. Can you imagine, Hibari? Can you imagine Yamamoto fighting besides the sea? How fucking cool that would be? Imagine. And that could be a reality. OUR reality.”

That would be truly out of this world. It wasn’t rain, but it was still water, and Yamamoto always shined the brightest in such environments. He could probably come up with a new strategy on the spot using the sea or the sand, and Hibari, with the idea planted in his head, just had to see it to completion.

“…I’ll think about it.” The victory shout from Ryohei annoyed Hibari less than expected.

“Yui will love to see her uncle being a badass! Oh no, maybe she will pick up tonfas instead of boxing? Bad. Nevermind, don’t come.”

“She would already have picked up the more efficient weapon. She is smart, after all.”

And once again, their conversation wandered.

__

Half the wine and six of the beers were already gone.

Ryohei had his feet up the table and Hibari was lying with his cheek against the wood, trying really hard to not get up while also trying to drink more.

“I mean, fuck it, right? Who is going to call the cops on me? God? I would punch him if he tried.”

“The man watched over your marriage. Respect him.”

“Didn’t know you were a Christian. Gonna get married in the church too?

“I’m not, but God is mine alone to fight. And since we are not marrying in a church, I have nothing to give him other than a beating.”

The sudden fast movement from Ryohei managed to make Hibari flinch, spilling some wine on the table.

“SO YOU TWO ARE GETTING MARRIED?” the sun guardian excitement could be compared to that of a puppy who just got his favorite treat.

“No.” said Hibari, frowning.

“C’mon! It’s time! I want to be the best man! I need to see you two in the generic altar pose man. The boy is just in love and he NEEDS a ring. He has been gushing so much about you!”

This statement made Hibari rise up. “Oh?”

“This entire week is just ‘ _Hibari cooked for me it was soo delicious!_ ’ and ‘ _Hibari got a full night of sleep_ ’ or ‘ _sex is better when you rest huh?_ ’ and ‘ _He looks so cute taking care of Hibirds!_ ’. And, yknow, just happier in general. That is fully husband material. I can get you an extremely cool ring.”

“…who is he talking about that stuff to?”

“Me, Tsuna and Gokudera only. We know you love playing with Hibirds. We don’t judge. Don’t worry.”

That wasn’t the part he was bothered about, but the small pause was enough to think a little about his discovery. It wasn’t like Hibari didn’t notice Yamamoto being happier lately, but it didn’t even cross his mind how much it might affected him. After all, in his mind, it wasn’t like he was doing incredible stuff, even a silly romantic night ended up being a total failure, but…it made him feel warm to think such little things could make the rain guardian so happy. Maybe the alcohol was making him too emotional, but he might just make the effort to keep doing them after his prison time was over.

“…thinking about your boyfriend?”

“…yeah.”

“…thinking about marrying your boyfriend?”

A small sigh came out of Hibari lips, shifting the happy atmosphere to a more somber one. “We can’t get married in Italy.”

“Oh. That’s right.” Ryohei said, followed by an uncomfortable silence and both taking more sips of each respective drink.

“Vongola is pretty big. Do you think they could move some pieces behind scenes?”

“I can just barge in the government and beat people until they give me rights.”

“Dude. That’s sounds like an amazing idea. I’m in.”

And once again, their conversation wandered, this time, around making plans on how to kill the people in power while minimizing their own loss.

__

The wine bottle was empty, much like the ten beers Ryohei ordered.

“But it does worry me, that Yui might not, not get the experience of growing up normally, you know? We have to move so often, and between entire countries too. I don’t know, I don’t know. I mean, we didn’t grow up exactly normally and we are happy, right? Maybe I am overthinking.”

“I want McDonalds.”

Ryohei paused and turned, just to make sure Hibari was watching his very serious and disappointed face. “Wow. I’m pouring my heart to you, and you only think about food.” It ended up failing, because the other man was focusing really too hard on balancing the empty beer bottles on top of each other to notice.

“Not hungry?”

“Hell fucking yeah I am. Thought you would never suggest it.” Since they managed to keep it toned down the entire night, the room was still intact, and the only trouble paying was the fact that neither had the necessary amount of sobriety to not stumble, taking five times longer paying than normal. But in the end, they managed just fine, and only scared their uber driver about 7 times before arriving at a nearby McDonald.

__

“I want two Big Macs, one McChicken from my beloved wife and a Baby Chicken for my baby chicken…”

“It’s a Chicken Junior, moron. Also you are feeding McDonalds to your child at 3 am? Deplorable. Terrible. I’ll kill you for rotting Yui like that.”

The poor teenager cashier clearly did not care about the semantics nor this random Yui and just wanted these two scary drunken (and yet handsome) men to order already.

“I will get two packs of 10 nuggets, large fries and two McChicken’s, thank you.”

“Dude, nothing for your beloved? Cold…”

“Fool. The second McChicken is for him.”

The poor teenager cashier, however, could alleviate a little bit of his suffering by hearing that the beloved was a _him_. It was always nice to hear about older (than him at least) gay people being happy. Gave out hope for the future.

“You have been acting foolish even since we stepped here, Sasagawa. I’ll bite you to death.”

Even if said gay people were not the embodiment of a stand up citizen.

__

Hana, still awake despite the hour, went to the front door as she heard a car parking on the porch. As she opened the door, she was greeted by her husband clumsy embrace.

“Hana…my love… I missed you… I got food…”

“Oh dear, you smell like beer. Hello there, Hibari-san. Come in, you two.”

“Hana. Nice to see you. Thank you for the hospitality.”

“Just try not making too much noise. Yui just finally went to-“

And as if summoned by name, little Yui appeared at the living room, rubbing her sleepy eyes. It only took a few seconds for her to recognize uncle Hibari and suddenly, it was as if she wasn’t sleeping before in the first place. As she sprinted to the cloud guardian, Hibari tried his best to catch her, even with slowed down reflexes.

“Yui, hello there. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” All the little girl did in reply was laugh excitedly, and Hibari gave out with a sincere smile.

“Yui, not even coming to Papa first?” Ryohei did his best fake crying, but Yui didn’t even shoot a glance at him.

“Ah geez, I just put you to bed.” Said Hana, sounding very tired from the previous ordeal, but ultimately deciding that maybe, just this night, it was useless to try any longer. After all, she was craving some junk food.

“Let’s FU- FRICKIN EAT.”

They sat down at the old sofas in the living room, and Hibari could finally experience the joys of eating McDonalds with his eyes closed. The conversation was light hearted and enjoyable, and yet, Hibari could not shake a very specific and embarrassing thought. Maybe it was the alcohol bringing out more emotions, but seeing Hana and Ryohei bickering about child nutrition so happily made him really wish Takeshi was here. But he need to be alone with Ryohei, Yamamoto would have read the situation too easily. And even if he ended up inviting Yamamoto, he was busy tonight anyway, and needed to get up early tomorrow. He would have refused. Right?

Yeah, he was going to keep telling himself that.

After everyone was done with each respective dinner, it was time to head home.

“You sure you don’t want me to take you home? Ryohei can watch Yui for a while.”

“I think you should enjoy the scene actually. I mean, look at them” Ryohei was trying to catch Yui, but he was still not sober even after eating and Yui was the type of just really fast kid.

“…Haha, yeah. Pure Coyote and Roadrunner shit. Don’t forget to send a message when you get home, ok?”

“I will.’’ Hibari took one last look at the family inside the house, and hopped into his uber.

__

He tried to be as silent as possible while walking through the house. He left the leftovers at the dinner table (Takeshi would have to forgive him for cold fast food breakfast) and went to the bathroom. After taking a bath and brushing his teeth, he headed to bed, trying not to disturb the sleeping man besides him once again. He used his phone one last time, first to tell Hana he came home safely and second, to go send another important message.

Way earlier, Ryohei reminded Hibari of a long forgotten hobby. Maybe long forgotten was an exaggeration, but it has been a good while since he last finished any book, much less any new one, not having gone to any bookshop in a good few years at this point. But he had a good idea of who might be able to help him. It might need some exaggeration for Gokudera to take some time off his schedule, but he could lie a bit, just this once.

“ _I need your help for something important. Doesn’t involve work._ ”

With that message sent, Hibari went to sleep, world still spinning a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback is always welcome.


	6. Sad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari gets sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the delay! This got really long, but I'm glad I managed to put it out finally! Hope you guys enjoy!

The punishment for not drinking enough water the previous night had come sooner than expected. Hibari was hoping to deal with the hangover only around lunchtime, but that plan was ruined by a conversation right outside the bedroom door. Even the current migraine wasn’t enough to deter his mind from questioning what exactly was happening, since for starters, he and Yamamoto were the only ones living in the house, and while Yamamoto occasionally talked to himself, he for sure didn’t completely change his own voice every other sentence.

Waiting a few minutes to see if Yamamoto would stop talking to the stranger to no avail, Hibari decided that it was better to check for himself what was going on. Sitting up, he immediately went through the mantra of every hangover person ever: first feeling how heavy and sluggish he was, realizing he simply wouldn’t be able to move normally in any capacity for the next few days, then feeling the sharp pangs of pain coming from his head, then feeling his stomach turning with the urge to puke and finally, saying in his head he would never ever drink like that again (he would). However, his will has always been stronger than any physical discomfort, and so, even if much slower than the usual, he made his way to the door.

In the corridor he found Yamamoto, already in his suit, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in another. His company turned out to be Gokudera, sporting a turtleneck and a pair of tight black pants, holding a cigarette of his own. Hibari was already inclined to be annoyed by just virtue of feeling like shit, but this was unacceptable.

“Out with the cigarettes, right _now_.” Hibari said, sounding as intimidating as he could in the current situation.

Yamamoto turned his head from Gokudera to Hibari, and made the same type of face one usually makes when they see a puppy struggling because it ate a little bit too much. “Morning, babe.” And after a quick cheek kiss, completed with a “You look tired. I left some medicine on your table.” The soft tone was silently appreciated.

“Thank you.” He turned to Gokudera “And what are you doing here? What are you two doing in the corridor?”

“You were the one to invite me here, asshole. I tried to enter your room but your guard dog said it was a bad idea.”

Hibari forgot that little detail, but he wasn’t ready to admit defeat just yet.

“It is too early.”

“Well, princess, some of us are not on their holidays. I have shit to do in the evening, so just tell me what you want.”

Defeat acknowledged. “Take me to a good bookstore.”

Gokudera wasn’t making a happy face before, but his expression certainly soured after hearing this. “That’s it? I woke up early for this? You little asshole, that’s why I hate you!”

“But you came anyway, didn’t you? Just take me already.”

“First of all, you are in no condition to leave the house like that. Second, you baited me to come here.”

At this moment, Yamamoto held Hibari’s head to his chest, to the confusion of both cloud and storm guardians, and said with his saddest voice “Hayato… the boy is asking you out in a date… just take him already…” he fully understood his boyfriend attempt to help, despite the fact that he really shouldn’t move his head too much.

“Takeshi agrees with me. Take me out.”

Gokudera let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, sounding very tired, he replied “You two are so annoying. Go get ready then. I do really have stuff to do later.”

Hibari went back to the room to grab a change of clothes and his medicine, and soon went to the bathroom to at the very least look less like shit. After getting ready, he found the two other men sitting at the small steps that lead to the garden, finishing their cigarettes.

“Now you look really cute! I’m going to come home early today, okay? Love you and have fun! See you later too, Gokudera. Don’t forget to bring the documents to my office, please!”

“As if I would. Now, come, little shithead.”

After being kissed goodbye by Yamamoto, Hibari entered Gokudera’s car.

__

The car was playing a podcast by two men with very soothing voices discussing aliens in ancient China. While Gokudera was listening to it intently, Hibari decided his time was better spent taking a nap. The 20 minutes they spent inside the car was comfortably quiet and by the end of it, both guardians were in a better mood to enjoy their little adventure.

The chosen bookstore was one of the huge chain ones, but that Gokudera was very familiar with. They managed to simulate a somewhat cozy atmosphere while also making sure to avoid crowding in the corridors. For good measure, they not only sold probably any book that was being published in recent times but also had a sizable session of electronics, CDs and even a café. As far as Gokudera was concerned, this was a good choice. After all, Hibari said bookstore, so maybe any old one would be sufficient, but he didn’t learn to fully understand the cloud guardian even after years of (questionable) partnership, just how to please him on his own terms. Maybe Hibari meant he wanted the atmosphere of a bookstore, or that he wanted to just walk around it for research for a future office or something. Regardless, they were here now, and if Hibari had a problem, he would make sure to voice it.

They stood briefly at the entrance, feeling the cold morning breeze. It was empty, and if Gokudera was alone, he might have pulled out a cigarette just to have an excuse to stand around and admire the architecture, but he had already pressed his luck by smoking inside Hibari’s house, and frankly, he really wanted this to be over soon. More because he was busy, but Hibari's presence didn’t help. “Hope it’s empty. I don’t think there are many people searching for books right now, but who knows. Already remember what you need me for?”

The cloud guardian let out a yawn before responding. “I want recommendations.”

“You could have just searched on the internet, you know.”

“Yours are better. I will read anything. Let’s go inside.” Hibari then went ahead, as Gokudera stayed behind for a few seconds, just to take a deep breath before entering. He really felt like he wasn’t paid enough to deal with this, but whatever. If Hibari wanted recommendations, he would get them.

__

Gokudera marched straight to his personal favorite session, located in a small corner, far away from the natural light that came through the windows, now more than ever in the early hours of the morning. The "Conspiracy" part might not be vast nor very concise, but years of dedication have taught that quality did matter over quantity. In fact, for him, the poorly researched, lazy, or just downright fabricated books could burn in hell. He wanted quality and real secret alien societies, thank you very much.

The storm guardian crouched down, and was surprisingly soon followed by a mildly interested Hibari. "I assume you are a total amateur at this, yes?" Gokudera asked, already passing his eyes over the titles, trying to find a specific author.

Hibari raised an eyebrow. "At aliens, yes." 

"Okay, before ANYTHING, never buy what's eye level. That? All fucking fabricated overpriced bullshit. The real gold is under here and up there." Now, he was passing his fingers through the spine of each individual book, eyes alone not enough to find whatever he wanted. "Now, since you know nothing, I will introduce you to a very important author..." and then, he let out a small victory 'yes', pulling out a book whose black cover was only adorned with the words _A Basic Guide for The Truth_ , written in white and a very unprofessional looking font. "Helena Jones is the absolute queen of conspiracy theories. It's very simple to read and she lists her sources. What she talks about is kind of basic, really, but she is so genius you really only notice if you are really deep into it already." shoving the book into Hibari's hands, he paused for a few seconds. "But then, you don't really know what consists as “basic” or not, do you? I think that I do have a solution for that though. Let's see if they have it." 

Gokudera got up and went to look for whatever beginner guide he was after. Seeing the energetic nature of the other man's movements, Hibari decided to sit on the floor, realizing that Gokudera was _really_ getting into it and this might not be such a quick trip after all, but he would not complain. It gave him a chance of seeing for himself if this Helena deserved such praise.

“I will also send you some important links later. Books can only get you so far, and the internet has given me so much material. Turns out there was an entire universe of creatures I didn’t even knew about!” he wasn’t hiding any of the usual excitement that came when discussing the supernatural, and maybe in other circumstances, Hibari would have told him to keep it down, but they were already in the ‘’Conspiracy’’ session, and he was also sitting on the floor while looking very hangover, and the store was very much empty. No reason to be a killjoy.

“I would have never learned so much about Mothman if I didn’t go search beyond books. There is a whole subculture of wanting to have sex with Mothman, which you know, not _my_ thing, but in the middle of that there are a lot of reports that would never make it into a book. Oh, there is one particular report that you won’t BELIEVE. So, this girl in California was driving…” as Gokudera was telling his tales of the internet, Hibari listened intently, showing genuine interest. And yet…in the few breaks Gokudera took to breath or search deeply into a specific shelf, Hibari could not shake off the feeling he was supposed to be doing _something_ else. Was it cleaning? Dinner plans? Some promise he made with Takeshi? It wasn’t like he wasn’t planning to do all of these later in the day. It had to be something else… but there was little space in his mind for that right now, because Gokudera was already onto another history, and Hibari’s brain was still fogged by a slight headache. There wasn’t much space between the two for questioning his memory.

The hours passed with Hibari being slowly introduced to the insanity of conspiracy nuts, pausing only to hear Gokudera's excited lengthy comments, be it about his favorite author or creature, with the vague feeling of forgetting _something_.

__

It was 10:28 AM when Hibari finished paying for his and Gokudera’s new reading material for the next few weeks. In total, the duo managed to get six books for Hibari to ‘’get into’’ the amazing world of the unknown and two surprise purchases from Gokudera, who apparently haven’t been able to visit a bookstore in a while as well. As he left the store, he was greeted by a now-warmer breeze and the smell of cigarettes once again.

Gokudera was sitting at the nearby bench using his phone, and as he saw who was coming out, he put his cigarette out and got up. “You really didn’t have to pay for everything. Don’t expect me to pay back now.” He said, using a playful tone.

They started making their way to the parking lot, with Hibari leading the way. “Consider this payback for your time.”

Hearing this, the storm guardian was suddenly very glad that Hibari was ahead, because if the other man saw the little smile that he was giving right now, he would _never_ hear the end of it. “I… had fun too. You didn’t even scold me for being loud or talking too much. That was enough.” And Gokudera really meant it. He was aware that his level of passion could be a lot to bear, and for that, he hardly ever had the opportunity to just nerd out with someone he trusted and actually listened to him.

“That is the bare minimum, not payback. I do not like accumulating debts.”

“At least with us, you don’t need to care about it. How many times have we saved each other at this point?”

“A debt is a debt, regardless of person.”

“You care too much about this kind of stuff. No wonder you are starting to get grey hair.” Gokudera said playfully. Hibari’s reaction to hearing this was to stop dead in his tracks and snap back his whole body to look directly at him with enormous eyes, and a face that was trying really hard to mask distress. Gokudera’s entire body went stiff from the sudden aggressive motion, but his curiosity was stronger than his fear. “…You haven’t noticed?”

Hibari didn’t move an inch, and as Gokudera started to get really worried he sent the cloud guardian in an accidental shock state, he managed to hear Hibari saying, in the most incredulous tone he ever heard coming out of the other man “ _Are you fucking kidding me_?”

Gokudera was really torn between either comforting or laughing at Hibari. For his own safety, he decided to do neither, and instead, just gestured in the general direction where the car was. Gratefully, the message seemed to be understood, as Hibari snapped back to reality and started walking fast.

Entering the car, Hibari positioned himself in front of the rear-view mirror, and all Gokudera did was point to a small spot at the side of his head.

From an outsider perspective, it might seem like Hibari has just received news that one of his loved ones just got murdered in the worst way possible. As he fell back to his seat, all the tension in his body dissipated, but it would be wrong to say he relaxed. More accurately, it was as if all his strength was sapped away all of sudden. His expression now wasn’t of a man who tried to hide away the pain, but one that was too emerged in it to have any hope of running away. This was his life now, and there was no looking back.

Gokudera would be a little more sympathetic if they weren’t talking about around 8 individual strands of hair. “What’s the big deal? They were going to appear sometime. It’s normal.”

Slowly turning his gaze from nothing to Gokudera, Hibari gratefully seemed to have not lost his capacity of speech. “Gokudera Hayato. I’m going to be bald.”

“Dude, what?” Gokudera really couldn’t hold back his laughter now. “These two things are not correlated, you know?”

“I’m going to get bald. And old.”

“Sure, you drama queen, but most likely only the second part is true anyway. And honestly, it’s not that… bad.” He held back the ‘not that bald’ pun. “Let’s get you home so you can have your mental breakdown in peace.”

In contrast with the silence in the first drive, now the car was filled with Gokudera half-comfort-half-laughing attempts to make Hibari calm down a little, who in turn, just kept giving out the thousand yard stare and kept muttering about his future lack of hair. Before any of them noticed, they arrived at Hibari’s house.

Hibari dragged his body out of the car, and before he could unlock the door, he heard Gokudera call out his name from the car’s open window. “Try not getting too depressed, okay? I don’t think there is anyone free to spar with you right now.” He paused for a little while to give out a small laugh, and complete his thought. “Bye. If you need to cry out more, send a message. I’ll reply at night.” With that, Gokudera drove off. Hibari could swear that he was still laughing at his misfortune, but there was no reason to get peeved over _maybe_ getting laughed at when there was something very real bothering his tired mind.

__

Yamamoto had long left the house for work. The shopping bag was thrown carelessly on the first table he saw, making a sound that sent a Hibird nearby flying away, and Hibari let his body fall onto the sofa, face-down. The medicine worked well enough so that he wasn’t feeling constant pain, but the brute movement still made him cringe.

It felt like every little aspect of the universe was punishing him for… _something._ Maybe it was the thing he just couldn’t remember, or the fact he was having a surprising enjoyable time with Gokudera instead of – Ah.

There it was. The feeling of disappointment that settles down when one finally remembers what they should have done, long after the opportunity has passed. Hibari would begrudgingly accept that he did need to be punished for being so uncharacteristically sloppy and forgetful about his own personal mission, but in no incarnation he would accept just taking in the disappointment with no action.

He did not manage to extract any useful information on Gokudera other than the fact he was greying (thinking about it still made him panic a little), whatever, his own fault. Now, he had to work with what little crumbs Takeshi and Ryohei left him. Not to mention, he had a house to take care of, and a Hibird to make amends to. Sulking was simply not an option right now, especially over the more trivial parts.

After changing into his cleaning clothes, Hibari went to the kitchen. Check the fridge, take out the trash, wash, dry and put away any plates in the sink, make Hibird's meal. In the middle of this routine, Hibari allowed himself to forget about his personal pains and focus on the task at hand.

Soon, his body would go on auto-mode, going from room to room, dusting, moping, vacuuming, the comfort of routine setting in, his body grateful for any semblance of physical activity. Hibari managed to get so into this flow that as he was done folding and putting away Takeshi’s clothes, the lack of ‘’next’’ made him pause for a few seconds. A sigh was all that the death of his blissful state deserved, and after putting away his cleaning supplies, he once again laid his body on the couch, this time facing the ceiling.

He put an arm over his closed eyes, and for a few minutes, just laid there, breathing slowly. Considering the sunlight that came from the window, he guessed it must be in the early afternoon. He didn’t need to look up when a small and fluffy source of warmth appeared on his chest, and with the free hand, petted Hibird, who soon seemed to have fallen asleep. Hibari let himself smile, just a little bit.

Blissful as he was in this moment, he was also a firm believer of not putting off the inevitable (despite having just done that). It was time to analyze what he had to work with.

Gokudera had business in the evening and had to ‘’bring documents’’ to Yamamoto in the evening. Absolutely nothing could be taken from this alone. ‘’Business’’ and ‘’documents’’ could refer to anything under the sun, Gokudera and Yamamoto worked frequently together, and even if it wasn’t his boyfriend's area of expertise, it wasn’t like he hadn’t his own pile of documents to take care of. Gokudera had white hair since they were teenagers, would his hair just change to an even lighter tone as he got older? Did it bother him, or he was used to it since-

Focus.

Ryohei was planning a vacation and was lacking “mafiaing”. This meant he was getting more free time and would get more sometime in the future. This aligned with Hibari’s theory of Tsuna Hand-Outs, and with that, his sample size doubled. Ryohei also had white hair since they were young. Was it inherited? But his sister had light brown hair. Or was it ginger? Maybe blonde in the right lighting. Regardless, it wasn’t whi-

Focus. _Focus._

Yamamoto’s mission was chock-full of red flags just looking from outside. Hibari would kill at this point to get any detail on it, but again, this was related to work which meant no information allowed. Maybe he should stop trying to be subtle after all, worked on Ryohei, so it might just work on Yamamoto. But again, they were drunk and Hibari would not be able to stand another night with alcohol for a while. And most likely, even a drunk Yamamoto wouldn’t give answers , or could just make something up on the spot. He wondered if Yamamoto already noticed his white hair. Would he have said anything, or did his sixth sense tell him that it would send Hibari into a pit of despair? Was Yamamoto already getting them too? Hibari would have to pay more attention…

But at that moment, he was too tired to do anything but accidently fall asleep, gently holding Hibird.

__

Hibari’s awakening was slow and confusing. The first thing he noticed were sounds coming from the kitchen, but as he was about to go on combat mode due to the fact he was supposed to be alone at that moment, he passed his eyes through the window just to see the sun had already gone down. If it was someone dangerous, they would have most likely already taken vantage from his deep slumber and not covered him with a blanket.

With that out of the way, he almost went back to sleep, the sofa too warm and too comfortable to be so easily given up, but he had hopes of not ruining his sleep schedule too hard. Not to mention, he did skip lunch earlier. Wrapping the blanket onto himself, he slowly got up and went to the source of light coming from the kitchen.

There, Yamamoto was cutting vegetables, humming, back turned to the entrance. Hibari took the chance to plant a kiss on his exposed neck, and in response, Yamamoto let out a tiny laugh, still facing the cutting board. “Good morning, darling. Slept well?”

“I had a dream that Mothman was our new boyfriend.”

“Gokudera talked to you too about Mothman, huh?”

“Indeed. What are you doing?” Yamamoto then pointed out to a previously unseen cookbook opened on the counter, showing a picture of a pretty plate of pasta covered in vegetables. “Let me help you. What do you need?” He swapped his blanket accessory for a spare apron.

The next forty minutes passed peacefully, with Hibari being in charge of the seasoning and Yamamoto preparing the ingredients. Soon, their combined efforts bore fruit in the form of a giant pot of delicious pasta that would most likely take the next few days to empty.

The first bite was more than enough to prove that the recipe, however simple it was, worked perfectly, and soon, they were listening about how each of their days went. Yamamoto’s laugh and Hibari’s short commentaries filled the kitchen, contributing to the light mood that made time pass faster than usual.

Soon enough, it was time to put everything away and start cleaning, but halfway through putting everything dirty in the sink, Yamamoto suddenly remembered something and excused himself, coming back quickly with a small plastic bag.

“Almost forgot. Gokudera sent a present to you! I didn’t look either.” Handing the bag over to his boyfriend, he put on his best puppy eyes, about as curious as Hibari to see what said present was. The puppy eyes went wide when Hibari took a look at the box of hair dye and threw it with the biggest amount of force he had ever seen outside the baseball field (ah, if only his teenager self could have recruited the prefect for the team). The almost-cartoonish anger that came off Hibari, the sheer comedic timing and audacity of the box bouncing off the edges of the garbage can to fall just barely outside was enough to send Yamamoto into a laughing fit.

Hibari, on the other hand, was furious enough with the oh so very tasteless joke that he was physically shaking, face red with embarrassment, trying to summon all the years of emotional control. The deep breaths had to be really deep this time around, but after a while, he managed to compose himself enough for his body to at least appear calmer. He was so lost in his breathing exercises that Yamamoto’s arm going around his shoulders threw him slightly off balance, making him lean onto the other man's shoulder.

Yamamoto didn’t seem to mind the pseudo-hug; still coming down from his laughing attack, small tears on his eyes. “Oh man, Gokudera can still be pretty mean.”

“He is dead next time I see him.”

“I think he is just jealous. Never will get a chance to rock the salt and pepper. ”

Unconsciously, Hibari put his hand over the grayed area, but took it back as quickly as it went up. Yamamoto’s expression was kind, but all of a sudden, a random spot on the floor was much more interesting to look at instead of Yamamoto's eyes. Crossing his arms, Hibari waited a few seconds before replying. "So you noticed."

Yamamoto’s expression softened. Taking advantage of Hibari's current lowered defenses, he very slowly put himself in front of the cloud guardian, putting a hand on the other man's waist and carefully put their foreheads together. Hibari's head being slightly tilted down made it not connect quite perfectly, being more of a forehead-top of head touch, but from Yamamoto's perspective, it was still a victory. He could smell a hint of cigarettes, no doubt coming from his earlier encounter with Gokudera, but it was overpowered by the brand of shampoo Hibari had used that morning. The fragrance was familiar, delicate, and Yamamoto did not hold back his urge to gently stroke Hibari’s hair, taking in the softness with pleasure. “It already looks so good on you.” His tone was soft and low, the proximity not warranting anything louder.

Hibari did not reply, instead choosing to hug back, closing his eyes, silently enjoying the moment. It would have been easy to let his self doubt get the better of him, but he wanted to trust Takeshi’s words. The warmth was relaxing, making it easier to let go of the tension he didn’t even know was there. The only thing that brought him back to reality was Yamamoto’s hand slowly making its way down his back, making his body give out little shivers.

“I’ll show you I really mean it.”

“That was cheesy.” And yet, it did not stop Hibari from helping Yamamoto take off their clothes.

__

Hours later, Hibari found himself unable to feel tired, while Yamamoto had already been asleep for a while, breathing slowly, accompanied by the quietest of snores. Hibari’s asshole instincts would love to blame his lack of sleep on said noise, but he was aware the culprit was the accidental afternoon nap. Even if it was the noises’s fault, he would not dare to wake up Yamamoto just for that. The man had come home after a long day of work, made dinner, comforted Hibari over his insecurities and would most likely be still trying to make him smile if it wasn’t for the cloud guardian’s insistence that he was fine. He wasn’t, but at this point it was his own problem to solve. 

In a last-ditch effort to finally sleep, Hibari turned to face his boyfriend. The only source of light in the room was a sliver of moonlight that came from poorly closed curtains, just enough to barely illuminate Yamamoto’s face. This was simply a fact, boyfriend bias or not: Yamamoto was aging majestically. It seemed that every wrinkle that appeared on his face just accentuated his features, bringing out more kindness when smiling, and less mercy when dealing with enemies. Hibari touched Yamamoto’s hair lightly, gently putting a wild strand of hair behind his ear, earning a small noise of acknowledgement. It wasn’t a noise of annoyance, but Hibari decided to let the other man sleep in peace regardless. He has been staring for a little while anyway, and he just needed to accept the fact he wasn’t going to get any sleep right now.

Getting up silently, he made a quick trip to the bathroom, using the mirror to analyse his own aging process. More specifically, his hair. Unfortunately, it hasn’t magically gone away, the small spot at the side of his head still as gray as it was in the morning. Having the bigger field of vision compared to the rear-view mirror actually made him wonder how he didn’t notice earlier, since it became really apparent when he was facing front. He refused to have yet another breakdown over this, instead recalling Yamamoto’s sweet words. Hibari genuinely just felt more and more attracted to Yamamoto as he got older, so would it really be so absurd to trust that his partner would feel the same about him?

...But it always took awhile to internalize messages, and just in case, he would try to salvage the beaten dye box.

After washing his face with some cold water, Hibari once again made his way to the sofa, picking one of his new books, and resumed the reading he started earlier that day, making sure to take notes to have something to talk about as he was biting Gokudera to death in a near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might take a little longer, but I'm excited to see where it goes! Also used a different formatting here, so please let me know if it's better or worse than the old one.
> 
> Feedback is always welcome, thank you for reading!


	7. Thinking, again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari decides to think, once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a shortie.

Hibari was slowly pulled away from a dream by a soft voice calling for his name. 

His neck hurt. He was confused. His brain was absorbing nothing of the blur above his face. And yet, the blur kept on talking, sweet and slow.

“Kyooooooyaaaaaa…”

“...Mhn?” it was the best he could muster, using all his power to sit up, using one hand to massage his neck and the other to rub his eyes, fighting away the drowsiness.

“Good morning, Kyo! How was the night on the sofa?” Yamamoto’s arms were resting at the back of the sofa as he bent over to get a closer look at Hibari.

“Productive.” gratefully he did bookmark before falling asleep, with the first book already being ⅔ complete, and with five entire pages of annotations for the eventual Gokudera Beatdown. “What time is it?”

“Early, you can go back to sleep no problem. Just wanted a little goodbye kiss~”

Getting angry at being woken up would take more energy than just giving his boyfriend a little peek at the forehead, and so, Yamamoto, satisfied with his little victory, reciprocated with a kiss of his own, and headed to the door.

He was just about to leave when instead of opening the door, he looked back at Hibari, still on the sofa, now also watching his boyfriend hesitate with curious (and concerned, even if he wouldn’t admit it) eyes. 

“Kyoya?”

Hibari kept looking.

“I love you, okay?” he didn’t wait for a reply, just giving out a bright smile and rushed to the car.

Hibari was used to hearing those words, and exactly because he heard it so often that the melancholic tone behind it was so clear and _wrong,_ the “bright” smile doing nothing to contain the unknown worries that Yamamoto showed just now.

Part of him wanted to run out, and grab his boyfriend by the arm, sit him down and make him tell what the hell was going on. The other part, the rational one, however advised that he actually can’t outrun a car that had already left, the wise choice being just waiting until Yamamoto came back.

The problem was making time pass fast enough.

Hibari wasn’t an overthinker, relying on instinct instead most of his life. He had to go against it plenty of times, especially when it came to negotiating with the kind of special annoying breed of herbivore that just deserved a good beating, but those situations had the caveat of not being directly involved with the few people he cared about in life _and_ he sometimes got the authorization to bite them if necessary. 

Now he was stuck for the rest of the day dealing, or rather, not knowing how to deal with his brain creating the most outlandish theories. With the extra conspiracy theory junk injected in his mind, it was surprisingly hard to _not_ make mountains out of anthills.

Thanks, Gokudera.

He genuinely tried not to think anything way too off-reality. But between everything else that was happening those days, with weird secretive missions, and surprise outings, and lack of proper work for him, and _Takeshi not telling him what was wrong_ , it was no surprise that his headspace was a little bit...altered, to say the least. 

While he was cleaning the kitchen, he couldn’t stop thinking about ‘ _What if they are planning to kill me and will make Yamamoto deliver the final blow?’_ It was a crack theory for sure, but the dramatics alone made it terrifying enough so that it stuck to his mind for at least a little while. 

It _did_ have the support of the fact that they _were_ removing him from where he had power and already assigning others to do his work, and it _would_ explain why Yamamoto sounded so sad.

...But it was all it really had. And he hoped that if they were planning to kill him, at least someone would have opposed it. And why would they even kill him in the first place? 

He managed to be rational enough to trash that one.

But his brain just didn’t have enough just yet.

As he folded the laundry, a new theory popped up. ‘ _What if Yamamoto was breaking up with him soon?’._ He had to hold back not to hold a just-ironed shirt too strongly as he completed the sentence inside his head. He took out his phone, with an uncharacteristic flair of panic behind it, and shamelessly searched for ‘signs that you are about to break up’.

...He only had one relationship in his life. Don’t blame him.

Gratefully, most points did not apply, just the ones to look out for secretive behaviour, but considering their line of work, it _could_ be excused. A little bit.

He managed to chew on that one for a while longer, making himself angry with stupid scenarios such as: Yamamoto running away with Gokudera (they would live in Italy and raise chickens after retiring), Yamamoto running away with Mukuro (they would live a quiet yet stylish life in Madrid), Yamamoto running away with Chrome (for sure would raise sheep in Iceland and make the _best_ sweaters) and finally, Yamamoto running away with Squalo (they would most likely end up living in Japan, and Yamamoto could continue his father’s restaurant).

However silly those scenarios were, there was a reason that Hibari was holding onto them as he went on to do his dailies chores.

With his workload finished, Hibari went back to the ever trustworthy sofa, who had never seen so much use as it did the last few weeks.

As he stared at the ceiling once more, he went on to face the inevitable. ‘ _What if they are going on a suicide mission?’_. As much as he tried to control his nerves, his heart still skipped a beat at the thought.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

He spent all his life being stoic.

He wouldn’t allow his own mind to be his end.

He just needed to think for a moment.

If one wanted to speak ill of Tsunayoshi Sawada, they could never call the man stupid, unless they also wanted to never be taken seriously again.

He had made mistakes, for sure, but every single action had so much thought put into it, even enemies had to acknowledge his talent for commanding was enormous.

He would simply not send his strongest, most trusted guardians somewhere they wouldn’t make out alive.

And that was Tsunayoshi Sawada, Vongola’s Tenth Boss, revolutionary of the underworld.

Now, if we include Tsuna, the once lonely teenager that had grown into a man who valued his friends more than anything else? The chance was a solid zero.

...But there were missions that were dangerous, and needed to be done regardless. There was always a chance of injuries and death.

And what if Yamamoto was about to take an unlucky turn in his life? And his sadness was just a silent form of saying goodbye? 

_No._

Hibari refused the possibility. 

Yamamoto was competent. Yamamoto was the _most_ competent. He would not die like that.

He wouldn’t.

And Hibari told himself that over and over and over, until it felt like his mind was about to spiral out of control.

And then the doorbell rang.

Hibari’s body jumped in surprise, heart rate going up. He stared at the door to see if the visitor would leave, and got up to take his tonfas as he heard a second rang on the doorbell.

Before opening, he did all of the usual security protocol, and tried to re-compose himself to answer the door. With the hand on the handle, he braced himself, as elegantly as possible, to his surprise visitor.

“Good evening, Hibari. Are you busy right now?”

And there stood Sawada Tsunayoshi, dressed in his usual suit, with a hand extended, inviting his cloud guardian to a little stroll. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! And I will soon (tm) have more time to write this one out. I'm quite excited to see where it is going, so I might be able to update sooner, but tests are also coming, so I can't make too many promises.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, feedback is always welcome!


	8. Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari is taken on a trip to the sea.

Tsuna’s low humming was the only sound inside the car. The silence wasn’t exactly awkward, but there was a certain level of tension in the air that couldn’t be discarded.

Well, at least in Hibari’s perspective. 

Apparently, Tsuna was enjoying himself just fine.

Since any and all questions of where Hibari was being taken were shot down right at the entrance of his home, the cloud guardian just didn’t bother wasting his time trying to pry out answers.

He had a surprising number of things to think about in the last few days. Between trying to be social for once in his life, seeing what was going on behind the scenes and figuring out Yamamoto, his brain appreciated the short break.

Half an hour later, Tsuna was parking near a pier. Hibari never personally went there, with it too often being crowded with herbivores who wanted to enjoy the beach nearby, but in a miraculous turn of events, it had a bearable quantity of people.

“Hibari, do you want a pair of sandals? Sorry, I should have said where we were going.”

_ I asked, don’t try to be cheeky now, Sawada.  _ But he kept it to himself, instead replying a dry “No.”

As soon as he exited the car, the cool ocean breeze hit his face, and even if it made a small mess out of his hair, it was a pleasant contrast against the stuffy car he was just in. 

...He would consider that feeling when deciding vacationing with Ryohei.

“Hibari, do you want to do anything here?” Tsuna said as he locked the car and put the keys inside his back pocket.

A quick scan was enough for Hibari to see the most interesting thing he could get was a crepe, and he wasn’t hungry at the moment. 

“No”.

“Good. Then, let’s walk a little, shall we?” Tsuna started making his way to the long stretch of wood above water, and Hibari followed silently.

It wasn’t the most robust of activities, but in a way, Tsuna managed to choose just what Hibari needed at that moment.

The tension that came before slowly dissolved as the duo walked leisurely, still in silence, but now, with the understanding that there was no need to create meaningless chatter.

The fact that his brain didn’t need to come up with conversation gave him an opening to just...watch. 

Watch the sea in all its glory, as the waves rolled, crashing gently at the land.

He watched the seagulls flying near fishing boats, and watched as the blue sky turned orange, and the orange gradually turning into a spectacle of blacks and deep purples, with just one last spot of sunlight showing, just enough so that the artificial lights still didn’t quite need to be turned on.

And he watched the people, the few that were there, just living on their herbivore lives. A mother screamed to her child to slow down or else he would get hurt. A man got his food stolen by a seagull. A young couple walked with their hands locked together.

However simple that joy was, it was enough to calm Hibari’s soul, steading his heart of the recent troubles and preparing him for the inevitable conversation that would happen when they reached the end.

He was actually somehow distracted when Tsuna called his attention, as the younger man leaned onto the dark wooden railing at the empty end of the pier. “Hibari?”

“What is it?”

Tsuna was looking at the ocean. “How have you been lately?”

Hibari paused to look at his boss. From where he was standing, it wasn’t possible to look at his face, but his tone was enough to tell this wasn’t simple casual talk, despite how relaxed Tsuna’s body appeared to be.

Unconsciously, Hibari clenched his fists. “Fine. Bored, but fine.”

Tsuna let out a half-hearted chuckle. “Oh, but I have been hearing some stories that you are actually going out those last few days?”

“As I said, bored. Just filling up time.”

Another little laugh came out of Tsuna. “Are you happy, Hibari?”

Truth be told, yes, excluding the ever present threat of a mysterious conspiracy hovering over his head, Hibari was not totally unhappy with his current situation, unlike what he might be willing to admit otherwise.

Going out with Ryohei has been pleasant. Their conversation was pleasant, and seeing Hana and Yui was pleasant.

Gokudera was interesting. It was weird things that Hibari didn’t believe, yes, but it was interesting to learn more, if not for just accurately making fun of Gokudera back later. Hibari knows he absolutely deserved it after the hair dye joke.

Cleaning the house was…not his favorite and yet, there was no doubt a clean apartment could easily shift one’s mood for the better. Even if not pleasant by itself, the sense of routine did bring comfort, so welcome in the unstable and uncertain life they all led.

And spending more time with Takeshi was… well, self-explanatory. Between how supportive he was even when Hibari’s biggest trouble was some white hair, and the times they have been able to cook together, and eat together, and talk to each other so much and so free of looming deadlines and documents and mafia, how could Hibari not adore it? At this point, he would feel like not admitting how much he adored Yamamoto was the herbivore option.

But Tsuna knew that. Tsuna knew all his guardians inside and out. The question wasn’t if Hibari was happy.

“What are you planning to do, Tsunayoshi?”

It was if Hibari could forgive Tsuna for interfering with that happiness.

The wind messed with Tsuna’s hair. As he turned to face Hibari, he raised a hand to put a lock behind his ear.

Never once his eyes looked so apologetic.

“I...know this is not the most elegant of solutions. But it’s the best I could come up with.”

Hibari didn’t reply.

Tsuna slowly turned his eyes to the ground. “I ask that you trust me, Hibari. Please.”

Seeing Tsuna so uncertain brought Hibari back to their younger days. Where everyone was living with the troubles of adolescence, and enjoying every minute, adulthood feeling so far away, away enough that nobody needed to grow up just yet. They could be as insecure, bold and free as they wanted for just a little while longer.

It has been so long since Hibari saw his boss like that.

Tsuna had to look up in confusion as he felt a fist hit his head. It was a very weak punch, more akin to a closed-hand pat, but considering he was already looking down, his entire body went off-balance for a second.

“I don’t comfort people.”

“Ah, I don’t want to give the wron-”

“And you don’t need to be comforted.”

Tsunayoshi watched in astonished silence as Hibari retreated his fist, and walked until he was at Tsuna’s side, leaning too onto the wooden railing, looking at the horizon, where the sun was slowly sinking into the ocean.

“You value our lives, and you have proven to do that over and over again. I do not understand what you're doing, and while I would like some explanation, you would not withhold information for no reason, and if I am not allowed to know, it means that you have things under control.”

Tsuna let Hibari continue, feeling that he still had some feelings to get out.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know any of that. Act accordingly.”

Tsuna proceeded to open and close his mouth several times, trying to find exactly what to reply to such a sincere display, from  _ Hibari  _ of all people.

But he had to act accordingly. Just a few days ago he was all smug over Hibari leaving for his holidays, and now he was doubting his decision?

Hibari was right. This wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. He thought deeply about it, over and over, and if there had been a moment of doubt, the moment to show it had long passed.

He breathed in and out, and closed his eyes. For the purpose of just recomposing himself, that was enough.

A sincere chuckle escaped from his lips, earning a raised eyebrow from Hibari.

“And you say that you don’t comfort people…”

“And I don’t. I just gave you a stern verbal beating.”

Now, Tsuna was smiling genuinely.

“Thank you Hibari. I really hate doing this. I really, really do. But you will understand soon.”

“Don’t waste anyone's life out there, and I might not bite you to death.”

“I won’t. This, I promise you.” 

The resolution in Tsuna’s eyes was absolute, shining orange for just a second, an unconscious wave of sky flames strengthening the message.

It was enough for Hibari. Smirking, he returned his stare to the horizon, now mostly black, a small amount of dark blue touching the ocean.

And there, they stayed, looking at the horizon, until it was dark enough for the light posts to be turned on.

“Ah, I think it might be time to go. Still got some paperwork to do.”

“Skipping work? Deplorable.”

“Some things never change, huh? Feels like just yesterday I was skipping class.”

“I should retroactively bite you to death for that.”

“Please don’t. Or else you won’t get a ride home.”

“I will stay behind.”

“Oh? Okay, okay. If you need anything, just call.”

Hibari just nodded, and with that Tsunayoshi gave out one last goodbye before turning away to leave. 

After just five steps, Hibari himself shifted his eyes to see what made Tsuna stop in his tracks.

“Hey, Hibari?”

Hibari didn’t have time to react to the aggressive glomp he just received from his friend.

“Hibariisweariwillnotletanyonegethurtyouguysmeantheworldtomeandiswearonmyflamesorsomethingthatiwillbringeveryonesafehomeokbye”

And just as fast as he attacked, Tsuna retreated, running away, with a wild smile on his face.

“Wao.” He didn’t understand what Tsuna had just said, but he could pick up just by the tone it was something reeking of the power of friendship. 

If that was what the mission was riding on, fine.

They had pulled through many times with that.

And yet.

And  _ yet _ .

As Hibari slowly made his way back to the main area of the pier, it didn’t satisfy him, somehow. 

He wasn’t lying to Tsunayoshi earlier. He knew his boss wouldn’t just leave him in the dark for no reason, despite his previous conspiracies.

That was his rational side, however. He was discovering recently that he indeed had emotions, and those were not so easily changed.

The talk wasn’t useless. If Tsuna was the one leading the mission, it was top priority for every guardian to make sure he was ready for it. Even Hibari.

And there was usually reciprocity on the feeling, with Tsuna making sure everyone was as comfortable and informed as they could. 

Perhaps that is part of the reason why now it was bothering Hibari so much.

All of a sudden, Hibari had much more respect for anxious people. He had been paranoiac for a few days and he was  _ exhausted.  _ How could people live their entire lives like that?

He still had some thinking left to do, not ready to go home and face Yamamoto just yet. 

Quickly, he sent a message to his boyfriend.

“ _ I’m coming home late. Don’t wait for me.” _

The reply came fast.

“ _ OK! Gotta get some for you too, love you, take care!”  _ with many kissy emojis.

It made Hibari calm down a little.

With that out of the way, he finally paid attention to his grumbling stomach.

A good enough excuse to get himself a crepe.

Soon, he had his food, and after finding a slightly less illuminated spot to hang out on, he sat right on the ground, letting his feet dangle above the sea.

It was unusual for Hibari to sit like that, but at that point, he could appreciate a new perspective.

With his crepe as a companion, Hibari got to do some more thinking, hearing the calm waves roll over. 

\--

Yamamoto was already laying down, with a Hibird at his side, ready to sleep, just giving one last look at his emails when his phone vibrated.

“ _ Clean your schedule someday soon. Let’s go on a date.” _

Yamamoto smiled.

“ _ will do kyoya~” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the spacing on earlier chapters. No changes in writing at all, but the gaps between paragraphs was bothering me a little.
> 
> This chapter is not my favorite, but I learned from it.
> 
> Thank you for reading, feedback is always welcome!


	9. Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari gets shopping.

Hibari had one day to prepare for his date. 

In any other situation, it would have been more than enough. Neither Yamamoto or Hibari were the type to need more than an hour to get ready, dressing stylishly but also simple, not bothering with too many accessories or add-ons. With that in mind, their entire wardrobe was more or less cohesive, making it easy to choose outfits.

But for some reason, Hibari had been taking shirts, coats, pants and everything in between out of the closet for approximately two hours, and yet, nothing felt like it was clicking together.

_Too plain._

_Too flashy._

_Those definitely don’t fit me._

_Terrible shirt. I will bite it to death._

Whatever he tried to combine, his brain just wasn’t accepting as good enough, pointing out at least five flaws even on the classic jeans and plain black shirt.

“It’s unacceptable. All of those, unacceptable.” Hibari said to the three Hibirds perched on the window, watching intently as their owner threw yet another clean shirt into the rejection pile.

The Hibirds had little concept of human life and the struggles of folding clothes. But they knew, deep into their tiny souls, that the Hibari of like, two hours in the future would be pissed at his past self.

Hibari was just about to pull another candidate for rejection when a sharp pull on his back made him stop midway to bending down.

_Ugh._

His body was the one to decide break time, and with an annoyed sigh, Hibari walked to the kitchen, hoping that a nice cup of tea would better his mood.

The first sip didn’t have the magical effect he wanted however, and he could simply visualize the frustration building up as he crossed his arms and stared angrily at the cup, as if it was it’s fault he didn’t know what to wear.

He _could_ go out for a make-over, but considering how he was already less than patient and his back was hurting, adding crowding and the extremely exhausting ordeal of trying out seven different shirts that all looked terrible wasn’t exactly the best idea. Maybe after taking the break, he would miraculously find something decent amidst the mess he created.

“I must object, Hibari Kyoya. You simply cannot think what you have currently is enough for such an important occasion, yes?”

Hibari’s body moved faster than his mind. With a flash, he took out his tonfas and launched against the unwanted visitor sitting right in front of him. After getting blocked by a trident, Hibari realized just who managed to make this shitty start of the day even worse. 

“ _What are you doing in my house?_ ” Hibari muttered, with eyes full of killing intent.

For any other person on Earth, this would be enough to send them running as far as possible, but Mukuro had too many years of experience dealing with Hibari, with such intimidation just earning a mocking laugh. “I simply came to aid a fellow guardian in need. After all, how could I not after knowing how dreadful your wardrobe is?”

Mukuro actually had to dodge the second blow, since for sure it could have broken if not the trident, at least two of his teeth. 

“Were you actually _watching me?”_

Mukuro feigned offence, putting a hand over his heart and gasping. “Oh, Hibari, I’m terribly offended by the implication. I simply have observed how awfully boring you dress over the years, after all.”

Another blow came his way, and after ducking, he could feel the dust from the now-partly-destroyed counter fall inside his jacket.

Hibari hissed at the damage, and realizing Mukuro wasn’t hitting back, decided the not-long-ago reformed kitchen wasn’t the best place for a beating. Even as he put away his tonfas, the killing intent did not dissipate. “How did you enter?”

The illusionist too put away his weapon. “Misting myself in. Do not worry, your anti-illusion protection is impressive, but I am Mukuro Rokuro, after all.” 

“Very well, Mukuro Rokuro, are you done? Now leave.”

Mukuro crossed his arms, a smug expression infuriating Hibari even further. “I am here offering help. You know the saying, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Hibari closed one of his fists and with his free hand, started to slowly massage his eyes, trying his hardest to not go berserk on the most annoying man on earth right inside his own kitchen. “Not in the mood, Mukuro. How do you even know?”

“I overheard a little sparrow singing with happiness in the office.” While Hibari was doing deep _deep_ breaths, Mukuro leaned on the sink, extending one of his hands to the cloud guardian, as if offering something. “The sooner you accept your destiny, the sooner you will be ready for what it will bring.”

Hibari didn’t reply, but did open his eyes to look at Mukuro from top to bottom.

Mukuro always had an eye and apparent passion from fashion. Well placed accessories, good-quality clothes, good overall coordination. Yes, Mukuro was the worst person on the planet, but Hibari has to admit he was very good in the style department.

The lack of reply wouldn’t usually bother Mukuro, but considering how he was extending his hand and Hibari was looking right at him, after a few minutes it did start to feel awkward, but he hid the discomfort well enough.

With a particularly deep breath, Hibari turned his back to Mukuro, much to the illusionist relief. “You will pay for everything. And the second I notice this is an elaborate joke, you are dead. I am not joking.”

“I wouldn’t dare to die for such a lackluster joke.”

Hibari gave out one last death-stare before returning to the room, presumably to get ready for his outing.

Mukuro sat on the chair he was before. Despite how his new shopping partner was acting, it could not ruin the sheer joy of making Hibari his little doll for the afternoon. How lucky Mukuro was that the cloud guardian could not hear his characteristic laugh from the room.

“I will make him _sublime_.”

__

“Welcome to my domain, skylark.”

Mukuro gesticulated dramatically to the entrance of a crowded market. The sheer amount of loud tourists and locals was enough to create a deep sense of hatred inside the cloud guardian’s chest, but for once in his life, _herbivores_ were only the second biggest problem. From the bottom of his heart, he was wondering how the hell they were supposed to move around when every little crevice was filled with at least three different street vendors, with no regard for any logic or pattern, all shouting loudly in the most varied languages and displaying the gaudiest, brightest colors they had in stock in hopes of grabbing the attention of any potential client. 

If Hibari felt claustrophobic from a distance, he couldn't even imagine how the hell it could be spending hours there.

“It certainly feels just like you.” his voice didn’t try to hide any annoyance that was growing inside him, with a complimentary death-stare directly at Mukuro.

“Ah, don’t frown just yet, Hibari. This place might look chaotic at first glance, and it is! But I am the one paying, yes? It feels fair to choose where we are shopping.”

Mukuro's victorious smile was even brighter after seeing Hibari roll his eyes but ultimately, accept his annoyance in silence. 

“Good little birdie-”

“Don’t fucking force it.”

“Fair enough. But truly, don’t look down on this market. You know my red jacket?”

Hibari’s pout transformed into a quiet surprised expression, still trying to show as little emotion as possible. “It came from here?”

“Yes. So did that killer turtleneck, and the black overcoat. Have faith in Vongola's best dressed guardian, Hibari.”

Hibari turned his stare back to the market, just a little bit more convinced it would be worth the trouble. “Don’t disappoint me.”

“Not in this aspect.”

They entered.

__

“The pink one is quite dashing, but I think it crashes with my hair color. I might just give it to Ken… I don’t think Chrome would wear anything other than purple or black. What do you think?”

“You win.”

“Hm?”

“You win. I’m going home.”

Hibari felt like an absolute idiot. He had been walking around for hours. His feet hurt. His back was absolutely destroyed. He was hearing the echoes of shouts in around 4 languages he understood and other 9 he didn’t. His arms were burning from carrying the fifty (not really) kgs of Mukuro’s personal purchases. And he would have to take two baths to get rid of the sensation of sweating so profusely.

“What happened, skylark? Aren’t we having the best of times together?” He was being extremely cynical, faking a hurt expression just to further annoy his nemesis.

Hibari still had enough energy left to shoot Mukuro his best “ _are you shitting me”_ face. He opened his mouth once, but closed it fast, choosing to rub his eyes instead of starting a fight. 

Being the bigger person hurts sometimes.

“I _actually_ have to prepare for tomorrow. I spent my evening doing nothing because-” Hibari bit his tongue fast. _Bigger person. You can’t go on a date full of fresh cuts._ “-I wasted my time. It’s on me.”

“Ah, I see. Seems like I expected too much of you. We have already bought your clothing, you see. Right at the start.”

Hibari grunted in confusion, raising one of his eyebrows. He tried _really_ hard to remember when it happened, but anything came in blank. “...No, we didn’t?”

Mukuro laughed, getting a few stares from the lady working on the stall. 

“It was right at the start, but I believe you were trying really hard to not be rude with the little old lady that approached you. But I agree, it’s time to go.”

Hibari didn’t have time to protest when Mukuro grabbed his wrist and as if in a dream, they were both teleported, _spirited away_ to where they had parked the car.

“I’m pretty sure that was breaking omerta.” Hibari had to blink a few times before assimilating what had just happened.

“Meh, the lady will probably forget once she sees the fat wad of cash instead of us.”

“Real or illusionary?”

Mukuro smiled maliciously.

“Asshole.”

After entering the car and feeling the relief of finally sitting down spread through his entire body, Hibari was mentally ready to just head home for the rest of the day, but Mukuro suddenly shoving a tiny piece of paper on his face interrupted the brief moment of peace.

“Take us there.” 

Hibari took a look at the address with suspicion, but couldn’t recognize it at first glance. 

“Will arguing ever work?”

“This is simply to ensure you will be the finest man Yamamoto has ever laid his eyes on.” 

“Longest ‘no’ I have heard.”

It didn’t take long to arrive at a modest apartment front, where Mukuro simply walked in like it was his, much to Hibari’s confusion.

Because he was _very sure the last_ time he checked Mukuro was living in a much bigger house with the Kokuyo Gang or whatever they called themselves those days, and not the cramped egg they just walked in now.

“Koko? Oh, thanf Gof! If I don’t eaf some cake righ nou, I WILL die.”

“Sorry to disappoint, dear Haru, it’s just us.”

Haru turned her head from the dress she was working on to greet both men with a smile full of safety pins. “Fifanly! Oh, bleh-” She took the pins out of her mouth, stabbing her finger once and clearly trying really hard not to curse. “Finally! Hi, Mukuro, Hibari!”

She turned to Mukuro with stars in her eyes, a voice full of excitement. “Did you bring the good stuff?”

“Huhu, I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

With that, she launched herself to Mukuro in the biggest bear hug Hibari had seen, and his eyes only went wider as he noticed Mukuro hugging back, _with enthusiasm._

Hibari would never vocalize it, but all that went through his mind that moment was an honest _Good for them._

Not losing her beat, Haru broke the hug and turned to Hibari. “My model, time to put on your clothes!”

She quickly noticed the frown that had formed on Hibari’s face, and rushed to correct herself, the threat of being bitten way too inconvenient at that moment. “Your clothes are fine, but I was given the mission to tailor them to perfection!”

She then came a little bit closer to Hibari’s ear, with a mischievous smile. “I heard you have somewhere important to go tomorrow…”

“News seems to travel fast these days.”

“Don’t worry! I won’t let you look anything other than drop-dead gorgeous for your proposal!”

The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.

Hibari would _really_ have to put an end to those rumors.

“...and who said that?” 

“Huh? Mukuro. But like, it would be the perfect situation, right?? Just imagine, you two walking on the beach…” Hibari just sighed, and in the middle of her daydream about the perfect proposal, he grabbed the specific bag Mukuro had separated and headed to the nearest bathroom.

Even after all the promises, Hibari still opened it with caution, half-expecting the package to either explode right in his face or contain some sort of clown outfit.

The first good news came right as he reached into the bag, his hand being immediately greeted by the perhaps softest fabric he had felt in all his life. So soft, in fact, he almost felt bad for grabbing it with so much force, eager to see it in its full glory.

The long overcoat was a few sizes too big, but in the clearly intentional way, reaching his knees and with the sleeves being long enough that just his fingers would be visible.

This alone was enough to kill Yamamoto on the spot, but Hibari had already seen that it wasn’t the last piece of clothing.

The white shirt was just as comfortable as the coat, and it’s simplicity was working perfectly to call attention to the more elaborate parts of the outfit.

Finally, the last piece was an unexpected pair of baggy pants that he would have never given a second glance in any other context, but now, it just paired perfectly with everything else.

With that, he was ready to look at himself in the mirror, but another glance at the bag made him go back and take a curious look at the mysterious black lump that happened to go unnoticed amidst all the other items.

Approximately 14 different emotions succeed each other inside Hibari’s chest as he noticed what the last key piece of the outfit was.

_No way._

_Beanie with kitty ears._

He decided to settle with quiet shock as he kept looking at the hat, as if waiting for it to morph in something else.

But after 30 seconds of silence and analysis, it was clear it wasn’t going to change. It wasn’t like he thought it was ugly or anything, but he had doubts that he could pull it off. Being on his 30’s and being Hibari Kyoya were the two biggest factors,

The little ears were extremely discreet too, probably going unnoticed by most passerbys, but still, _he_ would have to live with the knowledge that he was a thirty-something man wearing kitty ears.

And yet…

And yet he could just _feel_ Yamamoto going absolutely ballistic over it. He would for sure grab the little ears, massage them, probably grab Hibari and spin him around a little like a princess and kiss him a million times while saying he was the cutest thing in the world.

The thought sent a wave of warmth all over Hibari’s body.

Mukuro managed to bring both humiliation and blessings.

The man was a fucking genius.

In the end, he caved in, judging that making his boyfriend melt was a fair trade for some self respect, and walked out with confidence out of the bathroom.

Haru's head turned slowly, and both her eyes and smile grew as she looked at Hibari down and up various times.

“Oh, Mukuro, you outdid yourself this time.”

“My, have you ever doubted my capabilities? I can transform the plainest of us in absolute kings… But well, I must say, you pulled it off better than I imagined.”

Haru was slowly approaching Hibari, trying to keep his full body in her view. After circling around the cloud guardian enough times, she put her hand over her mouth, with furrowed eyebrows and lips pressed together.

“Okay...just a little pin over there...maybe cut a little here?...no, it’s good…definitely fix the brim over there...a little adjustment to the hat...yeah.”

Nodding to herself, she silently started to pin down any adjustments she wanted to make, with Hibari standing stiff, moving only under her command.

In no time, the woman nodded to herself, satisfied with the number of modifications.

“Okay Hibari! You can change in your normal clothes now. I will work on these, ok?”

He left to change, and after handing his new outfit to his apparent personal tailor, Hibari heard Mukuro calling his name to the entrance.

“Now, onto the real last part of the journey. Come, Hibari.”

Hibari followed, since Mukuro’s words were proven to be rather trustworthy on that particular day.

The cold air of the night greeted the duo, the wind making Mukuro’s long ponytail swing in the wind.

“Ah, how relaxing after a hot day in the market, no?”

“...Indeed.”

“Do not worry, is a rather short walk. I do understand your legs must be sore.”

They walked in silence, side by side.

“Mukuro.”

“Yes?”

“Th- '' Hibari's mind seemed to be accepting of thanking Mukuro, but his body rejected the idea, the mere first syllable sending a sharp wave of nausea through all his body.

“Thaaa-” Hibari gagged, and shivers were felt through his entire spine.

After one more failed attempt, Mukuro’s hand landed on his shoulder, trembling, desperately trying to not laugh at a grown man failing miserably to say Thank You.

“E-enough, you will kill me with such an _amazing_ display.” Breathing very deeply, he took the opportunity of already having a grip on Hibari to stop the man right on his tracks. “We are here.”

Hibari went stiff as he read the discreet sign. The shock was strong enough for him to not even try to take Mukuro’s hand off him, and after staying still for a little bit too long, the illusionist had enough breath to dish out a few words of comfort.

“This part is completely optional. I won’t force you, but just you know, my excellent taste _does_ extend to lingerie.”

Hibari still kept his deer in the headlights position, and after a very unnatural amount of time passed, Mukuro worried he had broken his nemesis. 

All of a sudden, Hibari forcefully removed Mukuro’s hand from his shoulder, earning both a jump and relief from the illusionist, who assumed that even if his suggestion got rejected, he hadn’t killed someone he didn’t mean to.

But Hibari was still staring.

“Mukuro.”

“Yes?”

“I really fucking hate you.”

Mukuro only smiled as his companion entered the shop, with a look that was half defeated and half incredulous.

__

“Welcome home! Oh, you need help with your bags?”

Yamamoto was quick to take off his apron and hurry to the entrance, trying to help his boyfriend.

How surprised he was when Hibari dropped the bags and instead threw himself onto Yamamoto’s strong arms, almost immediately turning into metaphorical liquid.

It was a little bit hard to fully grasp the adult-man-that-wanted-to-act-like-a-cat, but Yamamoto managed to get a flimsy hold onto Hibari’s, but it didn’t take long before he started sliding again.

“Oh, Kyo- oh Kyoya no you are slipping oh Kyo- oh boy, no I can’t hold you- aaaand you are on the ground.”

The fall was soft with Yamamoto acting as a slider. 

Crouching besides his beloved, the rain guardian used his softest tone. “Hard day?”

Hibari had his face down on the entrance, muffling his tired response. “Emotionally? Yes. Physically? Also yes.”

Yamamoto expected as much after seeing whatever the hell happened in the wardrobe and from the fact he had to spend an entire day with Mukuro, giving an understanding nod to the man lying on the ground.

On any other day, he would not mind letting Hibari take a power nap right then and there, but from past experiences, he would 100% wake up with back pain and tomorrow they both had a very important event to attend.

It was time to activate his trump card.

“Are you going to sleep now, dear? Then, I will leave some steak for you… but I can’t promise anything since it’s so good and I am so hungry...” The last part was true.

Yamamoto caught in the corner of his eye a little head rising. “Is it… hamburger steak?”

“Yes!”

It only took this one word for Hibari to get up in a jump and almost teleport to the kitchen. “Let’s eat.”

Yamamoto smiled sincerely. “You are too easy sometimes, love. Ah, Kyoya?”

Hibari turned to face Yamamoto.

“What happened to the kitchen counter?”

Hibari turned to face away from Yamamoto.

The damaged part all of a sudden returned to as it was before, with Hibari using his mist flames to cover up the mess he had left.

“...No idea what you are talking about. Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck everything *makes mukuroxharu canon*
> 
> This entire chapter was a surprise to write. I wasn't really sure where Mukuro would show up, but then the idea clicked all of a sudden and it was very fun to brainstorm! And with Haru too, I gotta write more about those two in the future.
> 
> Thank you for reading, criticism is always welcome!


	10. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari and Yamamoto go on a date.

Yamamoto was gently coerced out of the room with a hearty breakfast and a command to stay away until further notice.

Sitting in the kitchen alone, munching on a piece of toast, Yamamoto set aside the habit of looking at his emails, instead appreciating the moment of silence he was given. 

Rays of sunshine coming from the window gently illuminated the room, with a Hibird enjoying a quick nap under its warmth. There were a few distant sounds coming in, low enough to be weirdly comforting instead of annoying, a small reminder that the world outside still existed.

Even the slight cold weather was working in his favor, not only being surprisingly refreshing, but also making the coffee taste that much better.

With his head leaning on his free hand, Yamamoto was seriously considering joining Hibird, making use of the drowsiness that remained from just waking up, but just as he started to close his eyes, Hibari’s voice snapped him out of it.

“You may come to the bedroom.”

“Okay…” Yamamoto mourned his lost nap as he walked back to the bedroom, getting a little surprised to not find Hibari in there.

_ So secretive…  _

Popping his head in the corridor, it just took a quick scan to connect the dots between his missing lover and the locked bathroom.

“Kyoya, what are you hiding? Oh God, did you break the sink now?”

Hibari, in retribution, gave the door a punch from the inside, earning a little jump from Yamamoto.

“Blame Mukuro for the kitchen.”

“Sure… tell me when you are done with the bathroom!”

He would take the time to both choose his wardrobe AND not think about the maybe-broken sink.

The fact that he still didn’t know where they would be going didn’t help in the choice, but Yamamoto was the type of man to go with instinct, and so, he let his Hand of Destiny (just his hand) pick something acceptable from the mess that was his closet.

In no time, he was done with picking and threw himself onto the bed, the clothes laying on his chest, awaiting for the bathroom pass.

Laying so comfortably in the darkness of the room was a dangerous trap Yamamoto was too familiar with. Still very sleepy, he  _ knew  _ it would only take a second of letting his guard down to slip right into dream land. But he was a determined man, and the very moment Hibari gave the green card, he would get ready in an instant.

No naps.

No naps at all.

But then…! Hibari bursted in the room! He said “Babe we must help your dad in JAPAN”...! So Yamamoto got up and they flew to Japan in like five seconds… and there was his dad, having his sushi stolen…! By the evil Bongola family…! And they also had kidnapped Hibari at some point…! Now Yamamoto had to kill their leader who was riding a helicopter, and just as he leaped in the sky with his sword…

…he felt a gentle hand playing with his hair, the warm touch luring him away from the epic conclusion to his dream.

It took a few seconds for his conscience to actually kick in.

“Uhhhg...nhh?”

“You can keep sleeping, if you want.”

Hibari had at some point laid down, and from his position, it would have been so easy for Yamamoto to just nudge himself onto his boyfriend's chest and continue the very-interesting dream he had…

But even at his worst Yamamoto was attentive enough to notice that Hibari’s had been blessed with  _ the hat. _

His eyes went wide, and with newfound energy, he sat up to get a better view. Hibari had the faintest smile on his face, letting himself get contaminated by his boyfriend's energy, but it was nothing compared to how wide Yamamoto was smiling at that moment.

“No way, no way, no way…”

“Unusual attire, but a special day requires special clothing.”

In quiet fascination, the rain guardian slowly reached to touch the tiny ears, and stopped just a few centimeters away, looking into Hibari’s eyes with determination.

“You may.”

With the authorization, Yamamoto put his hands on the soft fabric, still not fully believing Hibari was wearing a cat beanie.

Wearing it  _ for him _ .

Somehow, he managed to smile even wider.

“Kyoya… ah, sorry, but I will have to attack you right now.”

In a flash, Yamamoto pulled Hibari closer, and summoning all the years of agility training, starting giving little kisses all over his face.

Taken by surprise, and not really minding the situation, Hibari merelly flopped around in Yamamoto’s arms, resisting just for fun.

“Quit it.”

“Oh no no, YOU got kitty ears, punishment is due! They don’t fit school uniform regulations.”

“How funny you mention that. Neither are pijamas. I shall bite you too.”

With that, Hibari started to put actual strength on the struggle, managing to escape the embrace with ease, and turning the situation on a now-laughing Yamamoto, who found himself with his hands being held up above his head, and a pair of knees at his sides.

“If you have so much energy, go get ready.”

Yamamoto barely managed to get enough breath from laughing to reply. “You were the one to invigorate me, baby.”

Hibari seemed to be taken off guard by the direct complement, creating the perfect window for Yamamoto to break free from Hibari’s grasp, making him land directly into a clumsy and quick kiss.

Knowing full well that they could keep going on with this game for quite a while, Yamamoto decided to make a run for the bathroom, not wanting to waste a single more second from their date day.

He did regret not looking at Hibari’s blush for just a little bit longer, however. It was a rare opportunity, but alas, sacrifices needed to be made. 

After what amounted to a speedrun of his usual routine, Yamamoto was more than ready to go, giving just one last check if he had taken everything necessary before heading to the entrance.

His heart was full of a kid-like excitement, creating a genuine smile that wouldn’t leave for the rest of the day, unless something truly extraordinary happened.

But well, it just happened that Hibari was looking absolutely out of this world in that exact moment.

Distracted by something in his phone, Hibari absent-mindedly put a strand of hair behind his ear. The light from outside was shining right behind his head, outlining his entire body with pure, hazy light. Yamamoto had to keep staring just to make sure Hibari didn’t turn into an angel while he was gone.

He also wondered if there were any churches nearby, because he could  _ swear  _ that he heard wedding bells at that moment. 

“Takeshi.”

Suddenly, Hibari’s body went stiff, seeing the intense stare he was receiving, and while Yamamoto wide-eyed was out of amazement, he understood that it could also be perceived as judgement. Considering how unusual the situation was, Yamamoto  _ did  _ feel like beating himself for making his beloved even the slightest insecure, but he was also half-expecting Hibari to be more sensitive that day.

...Expecting meaning mostly wanting in this case.

So he was ready to show which way he was swinging.

“Can you catch me from here?” Yamamoto asked, not moving an inch from where he was standing.

Hibari put his phone away. “Probably.”

Yamamoto leaped straight into Hibari’s arms, wrapping both his arms and legs around Hibari, who in return, did his best to support Yamamoto's body.

After confirming that he wouldn’t fall off, Yamamoto took advantage of Hibari’s hands being too occupied to fight back an aggressive holding of his cheeks.

“I literally cannot STAND how cute you look right now, Kyoya. Get it? Stand…”

Hibari looked to the side for a second, before lovingly rolling his eyes as the terrible pun dawned on him. “You have been spending too much time with Ryohei.”

“Aw, you didn’t even groan, so I would say NOT enough time.” 

“Any more awful, and I would have thrown you on the ground.”

Considering that Yamamoto was kindly put on the ground, he was due to a pun-brainstorming session with his friend, alright. 

“It’s time to go. Are you ready?”

Yamamoto gave one last look at his boyfriend, and an evil idea popped up on his mind.

“Give me a second.”

He rushed to the bedroom, frantically searching in the closet for the missing piece, while shouting that Hibari should wait just a little bit more. Desperation was about to settle in when the glorious item finally materialized, and once again, he ran towards the entrance.

Hibari's slight pout didn’t deter Yamamoto.

“Close your eyes.”

“What is behind you?”

“C’mon, it’s part of the game!”

A grunt later, Hibari complied, crossing his arms just to make sure Yamamoto knew he was a little bit annoyed.

All of that front melted away as Yamamoto placed a gentle kiss on Hibari’s neck, soon followed by a sleek scarf being wrapped around.

“You might get cold later.”

If Hibari had a snarky response, it died on his lips, with Yamamoto's devilish smile widening just a tiny bit more.

“Let’s go already.”

Hibari turned to the door, and Yamamoto was quick to catch his hand, squeezing it lightly.

“Let’s go!”

__

“...I’m not really sure if I’m continuing to watch, because holy shit, that first episode was  _ bad  _ and- Oh is that… That’s the aquarium!”

Yamamoto went closer to the windshield as they parked to take a good look at the familiar funky octopus statue that resided at the top of the building, welcoming all to enter with a friendly smile.

“Kyoya, we are going to see some EPIC fish?”

“Indeed. Epic fish.”

“Ohh, it has been such a long time! Do you think they have any new exhibitions? I hope yes!”

It has been a while since they had gone to the aquarium, yes, but Hibari thought that Yamamoto was too excited and should dial back a bit.

Really, Hibari himself was smiling just because Yamamoto was being so silly.

Really.

“Looks like a calm day. Let’s go inside.”

“Hell yeah, thought you would never ask!”

Hibari thought of pointing out it wasn’t a question, but his little ball of energy was already rushing to the entrance, trying to speed up all the formalities.

Through his efforts, in no time they found themselves walking down the dark corridor, to be greeted at the end by a splendorous display of blue lights, atmospheric music and an enormous water tank that went from the floor to the ceiling.

They stood in awe for a few seconds, before Hibari felt a light squeeze on his hand.

Hibari turned to his companion, but despite the call for attention, Yamamoto's eyes were still glued to the animals calmly living their lives. His eyes shone bright with wonder, and with a tiny and slow voice, he spoke.

“Kyoya… can we have an aquarium?”

Hibari wasn’t a fan of people who took in pets before doing any research. Not only it was a waste of time, money and effort, more often than not resulted in the mistreatment, and in worse cases death, of an animal who already was at the mercy of an impulsive and careless person. There wasn’t a single version of him that would accept saying “yes” to such a question before at least two months of preparation…

But he didn’t think that any version of him had to fight against the pure, unfiltered genuinity of such an earnest question.

Lost nights of sleep for research be damned. He would figure out how to steal the entire ocean for this man.

“Yes.”

“Good.” Yamamoto smiled to himself. “Good.” he repeated, as if to make sure Hibari heard his answer.

It felt wrong to pull away from that moment, but they had been standing near the entrance for a little while and a nearby guide was starting to look funny at them.

“Ah, Kyo, I know just the right thing to start off our journey.”

Letting go of Hibari’s hand, Yamamoto started to make his way through a familiar path, and while Hibari silently missed the warmth, he did follow behind closely.

Soon, they stopped right in front of a tank full of anemones, accompanied by a school of clownfish. 

Whatever Yamamoto was searching for, he was putting his all into it, staring intently at the fish. “Kyo, just give me a sec… I’m sure she must be here somewhere… I remember her being here…”

Then, all of a sudden, there was an inhuman gasp coming out of Yamamoto’s mouth.

“THERE SHE IS!! Do you see her? Do you?”

Avoiding tapping the glass, but still with a lot of energy, Yamamoto was pointing out a specific fish while tugging Hibari’s sleeve.

It might have been hard to know which one he was talking about, but a quick scan revealed a very peculiar fish.

“Is it the one with the chin mark?”

“Yes! It’s my fishsona, Kyoya.”

“... a clownfish?”

“Hey, it was assigned to me, after all. Who am I to disagree with the fish prophecy?”

The idea of fish prophecies earned a sincere chuckle from Hibari.

“See? I can even make you laugh! It’s a perfect fit.” 

“How did you even notice something like that?”

Yamamoto was still staring intently at his assigned fishsona swimming around with her friends. “It was the last time we were here, but we were leaving already, so I had no time to point it out. Ah!” Once more, Yamamoto tugged his partner's sleeve. “There is one just like you!”

This one was faster to spot. The little fella had a black marking on his forehead that just so happened to resemble Hibari’s haircut.

“Aww, it’s so cute! We just gotta search for fish like this for our aquarium. I need a little Hibari-fish in my life!”

A later search would reveal that it was a bad idea for said fish to be specifically clownfish, but do not fret, they would eventually get their decorative pets. 

As Yamamoto swooned over the pretty patterns, Hibari’s eyes couldn’t help but drift away from the exhibit and towards the brilliance that emanated from his boyfriend.

Fish really couldn’t compete, no matter how pretty or unique they were.

“...oh! And that one there looks like- huh? Kyoya? Is something wrong?”

The concern on his voice was the hint that Hibari might have stared too much.

Oops.

“...Let’s move on. There is a lot to see.”

“For sure!”

With his enthusiasm back, and either not noticing or ignoring Hibari’s slight embarrassment, Yamamoto led the way through all the exhibitions, pointing out all his favorites and which one of their friends fit each animal. The obvious ones were present too, with Dino being a seahorse, and Squalo being a shark, but he managed to show a surprising amount of creativity.

Apparently, Tsuna would be a manatee (“strong and with a kind face”), Gokudera a pufferfish (“very angry sometimes, very poofy”), Chrome would be an angelfish (“mysterious but pretty nice”), Mukuro an octopus (“smart, many tentacles”), Ryohei would be a stingray (“those tails are like punches, right?”) and Lambo would be… a baby manatee (“sea cows, Kyoya! Huh? Already said Tsuna is one? Then we have two!”).

All in all, a very educational visit.

However, it was time for the last highlight, their favorite one, leading to the exit: shark tunnel.

The corridor wasn’t very wide, but for that moment, neither minded being perceived as egoistic by walking side-by-side.

“Heh, I suppose we can’t have one of those home, right?”

Hibari said he would steal the ocean, but maintaining the ocean was a different matter. “We can ask Tsunayoshi for one in the office.”

“Oh, hell yeah! If we say it’s for relaxation purposes, he might really just do it.”

And if he didn’t, Hibari was not above emotional manipulation. Tsuna owned him one for keeping him out of whatever was happening.

But such matters didn’t matter that day.

“But I was being serious about the aquarium! Turns out I really like looking at fish.”

“That is manageable.”

“Even an entire room full of it?”

“If you are willing to take care of it and construct an entire new room, yes.”

“We gotta look out for an extra room in our next house!”

Hibari's mind stopped when hearing the words “next house”.

Somehow, before that moment, it never quite sank in the fact that there  _ could  _ be a next house. That there was a  _ future  _ they could plan for, together, and that could be as simple as their next house with an extra room for fish.

The brief moment of overwhelming realization was gratefully cut by Yamamoto’s hand on his own.

“Don’t worry, I had the same reaction. We can talk about it later, okay?”

Their eyes met, Hibari’s surprise contrasted with Yamamoto’s serenity, and for a second, Hibari wondered where he was while Yamamoto was having his own  _ holy shit the future is real  _ crisis.

He hoped it wasn’t in the shark tunnel.

“We are almost at the end. You know what this means?”

Hibari knew full well what that meant. “It is plushie time.”

The present shop was right at the end of the shark tunnel.

“I will choose the cutest. Just you wait!”

The mindless browsing was the ideal way to end the visit, and while looking at the assortment of little plush companions, a specific plushie caught Hibari’s attention.

The clownfish was smiling with no worries in the world, feeling cozy with a combo of blue scarf and beanie.

_ Scarf… _

As he took the toy into his hands, he petted the soft fabric slowly, with care. It would be… interesting to see how Yamamoto would react if he received both the plushie and his fabled scarf.

...Maybe he would have to talk to Hana, after all.

“Getting a little buddy too? This whale will become our new bed mate.” Yamamoto came in his field of vision, proudly showing his own purchase. “I’m naming him Komi.”

“Decent name.”

With everything being paid off, they finally left the aquarium, being greeted by a cold evening breeze and a clear, bright sky.

Temperature wise, it wasn’t that much different from inside, but the change in luminosity both hurt their eyes and indicated that they had really taken their time in there.

Yamamoto shielded his eyes with his free hand as he looked up. “Oh, it’s later than I imagined! You are ready to head home, Kyo?”

“The date is not over yet.”

His eyes lit up as he turned to Hibari. “Really? Where are we going?”

With the most deadpan expression that he had ever done, Hibari put a finger on his own lips. “Secret. Have patience.”

“Don’t hype me up like that, you know I can’t take it!”

“Do not get your hopes up. It’s nothing fancy.”

“But we are together, right? That is already good enough for me.”

The unexpected cheesiness killed the deadpan on Hibari’s face, and inside his head Yamamoto marked another score into his “Made Kyoya Smile” board.

__

The sound of the ocean had been a constant throughout the day, but Yamamoto was not complaining. No imitation could compare to the real thing, regardless.

“Aw Kyoya, if you told me we would be coming here, I would have worn my trunks~”

“It’s far too cold for that. We are not here for swimming, anyway.”

The pier was once more empty, and before setting on their journey, they enjoyed some nice, warm crepes.

The crunch of the sand underneath their shoes was satisfying as they descended upon the beach. They had to walk somewhere where the waves couldn’t reach, since neither were really in the appropriate clothing to get wet, but tried to remain as close to the sea as possible.

“So, where are we going, babe?”

“Last time I was here, there was somewhere that caught my interest.” He pointed at the very end of the beach, a formation of rocks emerging from vegetation. “I want to sit there.”

From where they were standing, said point was still very, very small, meaning that they would still have to cover a lot of ground before getting there.

Good thing it was a nice walk.

“It would be nice to walk on the beach more often. I like the scenery and the… added benefits.” Yamamoto winked playfully at Hibari.

“Are you talking about my swimsuit? I don’t even take my shirt off most of the time.”

“Babe, it’s about  _ the fantasy.  _ I mean, what IS under there?”

“Takeshi…” Hibari tried to stifle a laugh, but the little bandit escaped anyway. “You know what is under there.”

“But what if it’s different now? It’s just- I gotta know.”

“God.” Hibari lightly shoved Yamamoto while disapprovingly shaking his head. “You are so silly.”

Walking on the beach with the man you might want to spend your whole life with, while wearing kitty beanie, while said man was laughing about pretending not to know what was under his shirt.

“This is so silly. Everything is so silly.”

_ Let’s get married, please.  _

“Our next house needs to be closer to the sea.”

“Agreed! And don’t forget the aquarium room! We also need space for the Hibirds, and I would LOVE a huge backyard! I do want to swing the bat every once in a while.”

Every few minutes, a new “essencial” room popped up in the conversation, but for now, it didn’t matter how outlandish it was, their shared dream was too nice to not indulge in. 

Time passed so fast that they barely noticed how close they were already to the end of the journey. The last obstacle was a sign, in the middle of the vegetation, saying “Do not trespass”.

They exchanged looks.

Hibari started to go deeper into the tiny forest, soon followed by Yamamoto.

It was hard to see right in front of them with the thick vegetation and unfamiliar layout. It took longer than expected, with a few unfortunate rips on his beloved coat and much buzzing in their ears, but it was all worth it when they arrived at the end.

The sunset was creating a show of reds and dark blues, both in sky and sea, and with no land at the corner of their eyes, the scenery was breathtaking.

“You got a good eye for those things, Kyoya.”

“...I really do.”

They sat on the ground, in quiet admiration of the scene in front of them.

“Yeah. I mean, we already had to have a beach house, but now? It’s basically an emergency.”

“It might take a while to find an appropriate place.”

“It’s more of a spiritual emergency, so we can wait a little bit longer. Oh, I can’t wait to go house hunting! We must make sure that the Yamamoto slash Hibari household is perfect.”

“Hm.” Hibari’s tone called Yamamoto’s attention. “Should we pick a surname?”

“Oh! I didn’t even consider that!” Yamamoto was lost in thought for a few seconds before a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. “...Hibari Takeshi. Oh, that sounds so… weird! It’s making me giggly.”

_ Hibari Takeshi.  _

Was it weird that Hibari felt his mind short circuiting from hearing that?

“...Yamamoto Kyoya.”

From the looks on his face, the same was happening to Yamamoto. It wasn’t like they never thought about how their names would look like that, but there was some kind of… magic, hearing it out loud.

Said magic was being way too efficient at making them feel like teenagers who just held hands for the first time.

“U-uh, Kyoya. I want a photo now.”

“Yes. Sure. Yeah.”

The arm thrown around Hibari’s shoulders was a little bit shyer than usual, but nothing that snuggling closer couldn’t fix.

“Ready?”

After an affirmative nod, Yamamoto was very quick to snap a photo, maybe in fear their out-of-place shyness would be lost to the sands of time.

And yet, as they took a look, it showed that it was perfectly immortalized, the sunset proving a nice atmospheric, warm lighting to it.

So much, that Yamamoto was staring really hard at the picture, face unmoving. As his arm tensed up over Hibari’s shoulders, it didn’t take long to see that something was amiss.

In the blink of an eye, the rain guardian’s face returned to its usual cheeriness. “Hey, Kyoya…”

He leaned in closer, and a chill ran down Hibari’s spine as his lips touched his ear.

“There is someone behind us.”

It was barely audible, but the proximity nor the situation called for anything louder. He turned to the sunset, making sure their enemy thought they were still well-hidden.

Hibari leaned his head against his shoulder. “Do you have weapons with you?”

“Gun. I can hit them from here. Just back off when I kiss you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Yamamoto’s hand reached to a hidden pocket, and Hibari readied himself to get as much distance as possible.

The event barely took five seconds. The loud noise from the gun was only heard once, Yamamoto landing a perfect headshot, and with that, date day was over with a bang.

__

Calling Tsuna to clean up was exhausting. Waiting there for the team to arrive was exhausting. Having to deal with the atmosphere after the event was  _ extremely  _ exhausting.

Hibari was too tired to be angry at that moment. As he left his sand-filled shoes at the entrance, all he wanted was dinner and a bath.

Considering the silence from Yamamoto, it was not hard to see the feeling was mutual.

It was only when laid in bed, in pajamas and with the lights already off, that anyone dared to talk.

Surprisingly, it came from Hibari.

“I was planning a happier end for tonight.” The unnatural urge to apologize almost got the better of him, but his rational part was fast enough to think that he couldn’t have known.

“I don’t think any of us were expecting that, to be honest.” Yamamoto sounding disappointed was a rare treat, and if nothing else, at least that was some level of comfort in their feelings being the same. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s probably just…”

Yamamoto let out a tired sigh as he rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know if I can…”

“It’s fine.” 

Hibari slowly touched Yamamoto’s hand to call for his attention.

“Come here.”

Hibari snuggled closer to his distressed boyfriend, holding Yamamoto’s head to his chest.

The gesture, however unusual, was fully accepted by Yamamoto, who merely shifted his position for a more comfortable experience.

“I remember my own experience… my future self experience with Tsunayoshi’s plan against Byakuran. I will know what is happening, eventually. Do not feel bad.”

In response, all Yamamoto did was bury his face deeper into Hibari’s pajamas.

For a while, all they did was stay in each other's embrace, enjoying the warmth in silence. With the additional hand slowly caressing his hair and the burden of keeping Hibari in the dark partially relinquished, it was hard to keep his eyes open.

But he still wanted to do one more thing before passing out.

“Kyoya?”

“Hm?”

“Can we take a photo now?”

Hibari could argue that they were already in pajamas, and probably looking very tired, and not in the most photogenic of positions and a hundred of reasons not to. But after such a brute reality check, he understood the need to conserve this happy little moment.

“Yes.”

It didn’t matter that the photo had weird lighting, weird angles and was a little bit shaky. They loved it, anyway.

“I like this one, Kyoya. Shame it’s the last one of the day.”

“You can get one more. The second one… didn’t count.”

Yamamoto’s tiny smile was a good way to end the day.

“I will remember that. Goodnight, Kyoya. I love you.”

He adjusted himself once more before falling asleep.

Hibari observed his sleeping partner for a few more minutes before finally closing his own eyes.

“I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we enter the double digits in chapters, and with that, some PLOT. Got to write some of my favorite scenery with this one, and I'm pretty happy with some parts of this chapter!
> 
> Now, I want to ask you guys something about the ratings: do you think this fanfic needs a M rating? At first, I put T because I don't plan to add any explicit smut, but I have brought up their sex lives enough that I don't know if T is too low, so I wanted to see what the readers think.
> 
> Regardless, thank you for reading! Feedback is always welcome.


	11. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari and Yamamoto were sleeping.
> 
> Tsuna and Gokudera were wide awake.

Tsuna was staring out of the window as he quietly listened to Gokudera’s report. For the untrained eye, he was as calm as he had ever been, with an almost expressionless face, legs elegantly crossed and chin lightly resting on his hand. However, Gokudera had spent too many years beside his boss' side to ignore the little subtleties in his behavior.

The discreet lip bite, occasional leg bounce and almost imperceptible wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows were the few flaws that Reborn still tried to work out of Tsuna, and for most part, the Tenth Vongola did hide it well enough. However, it would be understandable to let them show to one of his closest allies while two of his other allies barely managed to escape a surprise attack.

If anything, Tsuna was taking it extremely well.

Gokudera pushed his glasses up before wrapping up the rushed report. “...In short, the only information we managed to gather from the corpse it’s that they were, indeed, associated with-”

He had to clean his throat before continuing, wary of Tsuna’s possible reaction. “-associated with the Amato.”

The revelation didn’t quite come as a surprise, but rather, merely the confirmation of an ongoing annoyance. An ongoing annoyance that had grown too powerful, too cocky, too comfortable for everyone's tastes.

Tsuna let out a long, tired sigh, before showing a small smile to his guardian.

“Thank you, Gokudera.”

Getting up, Tsuna slowly made his way to his personal coffee machine, popping a capsule in.

“Would you like one, Gokudera?”

“Yes. Thank you, Tsuna.”

He would have gladly offered to do it himself in any other situation, but having something to do with your hands was always a good distraction, and Gokudera wouldn’t want to take it away from his boss when he needed it the most.

With the simple cup placed in front of him, Gokudera waited until Tsuna made himself comfortable again before taking the first sip.

The bitter, strong flavour was perfect for the tense moment, allowing Gokudera to concentrate on something else for a few seconds, before finally asking the dreaded question.

“What are we going to do?”

Tsuna closed his eyes as he took a sip from his own cup. A small, yet sincere smile appeared on his lips once more as he savoried the drink, enjoying the moment of peace. Satisfied, he put the cup down, and looked straight into Gokudera’s eyes.

“We are moving tomorrow.”

The abrupt change of plans made Gokudera’s heart sink. 

A million bad scenarios ran through his head. This wasn’t the type of operation that could be moved so hastily, and the stakes were not simply some territory or the reign over a specific market.

More than half of the guardians would be there risking their lives,  _ including  _ the Vongola Tenth.

And yet, despite the almost uncontrollable desire inside his head to just shake Tsuna by the shoulders and scream that doing so was a bad idea, he also did trust his friend not to throw everybody under the bus for some quick revenge.

Still, half of his job was to question Tsuna and this was exactly the type of situation that called for it.

“...Tenth, you know I trust your decision making, but I must ask you to consider this again. I don’t think that the plan can just move like that and-” Gokudera briefly paused, sensing he was starting to get flustered. After a deep breath, he continued. “And this… felt like a direct provocation. We might be walking right into a trap.”

Tsuna listened intently to the criticism, but his resolute expression told Gokudera he was about to receive a rebuttal.

“I understand your concerns, Gokudera. In fact, I unfortunately have to agree. We might just be playing right into their own plan, but after tonight, I don’t think we can wait any longer.”

Gokudera kept silent as Tsuna walked to his window, letting some of the night breeze come right in. 

“My mistake was assuming they were smarter than sending their own people to serve as a message. I will not allow anyone I love come into harm like that. Not when I can stop it.”

It was hard to fight back against the spark inside Tsuna’s eyes. His conviction that this was the right choice seemed so true, so unbreakable, that even despite all odds, at that moment where their eyes locked, Gokudera was sure Tsuna would take care of them.

He would make sure to help as much as he could.

“Then, what is the next step?”

“First, I need you to send the messages to everyone that we are leaving tomorrow. If they do not respond, call them by six to explain the news and to come to the mansion. Until then, I want to revise the plan to accommodate for the changes.”

“Understood, Tenth.”

It was time for action. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see if Tsuna's plan works out.


	12. Goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibari says some goodbyes.

Yamamoto was rudely woken up by a very early morning call.

It was quite hard to reach for his phone as he was still nestled against Hibari’s chest, but after the second call, it was clear it would just keep ringing until someone picked it up and he would rather not subject Hibari to waking up so early too.

He was just about to pick up with a slightly annoyed voice when he saw Gokudera’s name pop up on the screen, and then, any annoyance he might have felt turned to genuine concern.

Quickly, he got up and left the bedroom, getting as far as possible before picking up the call.

“Gokudera?”

“Oh, finally. Thought you might never answer.” The voice on the other side was trying really hard to sound casual, but Gokudera’s seriousness could be felt even kilometers away.

“Sorry. It’s… early. Very early. Did- did something happen?”

The brief moment of silence was filled with tension as the storm guardian tried to find the right words to soften the blow.

“Tsuna decided we are going  _ today. _ ”

Yamamoto felt something cold getting stuck inside his throat, but swallowing didn’t help.

“Wasn’t the plan-”

“Yeah, for sure it wasn’t going to be today. But you know, yesterday happened. He decided we can’t waste any more time.”

It wasn’t a gentle way of getting the news, despite Gokudera’s best efforts, but Yamamoto couldn’t blame his friend. It was hard to take in important information on such a short notice after all, much less having to pass it to others. 

Gokudera took a lack of reply as a signal to continue on. “I wish I could tell you to take your time, but we are leaving as soon as possible. No real alterations on how long it will take, so just keep your baggage the same. We are meeting up at the mansion. Anything else?”

_ Please make this entire situation go away in like, two hours,  _ Yamamoto thought to himself, but choose not to do any attempt at humour. For sure it would sound more somber than funny, anyway.

“Can I tell Kyoya?”

A sad, tired sigh could be heard from the other side of the line. “No. It’s still a secret. But you can tell him you are leaving. Not much to hide in that aspect.”

“Ah, fuck.” Midway through his groan, he realized that he was in fact, having a conversation, and even if the complaining was directed at nobody in particular, it was better not to accidentally attack Gokudera. “It’s not directed at you, it's just-”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I get it. Ah, fuck, indeed.” Gokudera reassured.

The joke earned a tiny chuckle from Yamamoto. As small as that moment was, it made him relax his tense shoulders, even if it was just a tiny bit. “So, I guess see you soon?”

“See you. And hey…”

“Yeah?”

“We will come back. Don’t worry.”

Gokudera ended the call suddenly, and Yamamoto smiled once more thinking his oh-so-serious friend dipping out of a reply to his own sincere attempt at comfort. Now, alone once more, Yamamoto stood still for a few seconds before opening the sliding door to the garden. 

A wave of fresh air hit his face, taking away some of his current worries. At the distance, a few Hibirds were perched on their little birdhouses, hurdled together for warmth. Seeing one of its owners at the entrance, one of the tiniest took flight, landing right into Yamamoto's hand, much to his delight.

“Good morning to you too.”

Gently, Yamamoto started to pet Hibird with a finger, who in return, started humming, low and satisfied, totally leaning onto the touch.

They were always so cute.

“Takeshi?”

The voice coming from behind could only belong to the one person he was somehow both dreading and hoping to see. Sending Hibird away, Yamamoto turned to see a figure dragging itself out of the room, still wearing pajamas.

“Let’s go back to bed. It’s too early.”

Hibari’s voice was still groggy, his hair was pointing in all weird directions. As he walked to Yamamoto, there were many feeble attempts at rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, but as soon as he got to an appropriate distance, any pretense of that was abandoned in favor of using his boyfriend’s shoulder as a pillow.

Almost as if he wasn’t just about to leave on an important mission, Yamamoto took the chance to hold Hibari into a tight embrace, burying his face onto his partner's messy hair.

On any other day, this would have made Yamamoto fully relax as he enjoyed their little shared moment, but now, his heart has sunk lower than ever before, and no matter how much he intensified the hug, the sensation refused to go away.

“Takeshi. What is wrong?” Hibari’s concerned voice made his heart beat faster. 

He  _ really  _ hated to keep Hibari in the dark.

“We need to talk.”

Hibari broke the embrace, any trace of tiredness gone, replaced by a half-angry half-concerned frown that pierced straight into Yamamoto’s soul. “What is it?”

While the urge to comfort Hibari screamed for a few seconds inside his head, Yamamoto had to do this as professionally as possible. This was too about their job, after all.

“I-”

Easier said than done when one of the people you love the most was looking at you like you were about to break their heart.

Better to just rip off the bandaid.

“I am leaving on a mission. And I can’t tell you anything about it, except that I am leaving in less than an hour, and for a week.”

First, it was confusion, then anger, then once again confusion before Hibari settled into a rare bewildered expression.

Yamamoto was just about to reach out, the “sorry” ready to come out when Hibari held up an open hand, indicating that it was better to keep silent for now. Obeying, Yamamoto watched in silence as Hibari sat on a nearby chair, taking a deep breath, his face not even a bit more relaxed.

“I didn’t even manage to discover half of it, then.”

Now it was Yamamoto’s turn to be confused.

“You… knew about it?”

“I knew that something was happening. Not that it would happen like this.”

The bitterness on his voice propelled Yamamoto to take a seat beside him. The fact that Hibari didn’t push away was good, but it still broke his heart to see his boyfriend in distress.

“Hey, if it’s any better, I was also informed just this morning we are leaving. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“So we are just doing an inevitable scenario then?”

The sudden aggressiveness of his tone disarmed Yamamoto. At a loss for words, the best he could muster was a low, but sincere apology.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

Silence followed, heavy and tense, as Yamamoto thoughts failed to get any more cohesive despite the urgency of both situations at hand. At that point, he wasn’t sure if Hibari would start the conversation either when all of a sudden, he caught a movement from the corner of his eye.

The gentle hand on his thigh was a welcome surprise, even if it was just a tiny sign of development.

“No. Don’t say sorry. There is nothing to be sorry for.” Hibari said with a serious voice. “It’s not your fault.”

Yamamoto slowly held Hibari’s hand. “I mean, it’s fair that you got angry. It sucks to get excluded like that. Especially since it’s something so big…” he mentally slapped himself for the last part. “Not helping my own case here, huh?” With a little joke to alleviate the tension, Yamamoto gathered the courage to look Hibari in the eyes.

There was a wave of relief when he found genuine understanding there, even if it still had a hint of sadness.

“I don’t have any right to get angry over this. I participated in Tsunayoshi’s plan against Byakuran, remember?”

He hadn’t exactly forgotten about it, but it wasn’t the memory he recalled the most either. 

“I should be the one supporting you the most right now, Takeshi. I’m sorry.”

Yamamoto wasn’t sure if hugging Hibari as hard as he could was an appropriate response to that, but both his heart and brain told him that there was no time left to ponder about such things.

It felt remarkably good to be hugged back at that moment. 

“What do you need to do right now?” Hibari asked, face still buried in Yamamoto’s neck.

“I should be packing.”

And with much hesitation, Hibari was the first one to break their embrace. “Then I shall help. I need to get ready, too.”

“Ready for what?”

“I can’t go with you, but Tsunayoshi is  _ very _ mistaken if he thinks I’m not going as far as I can.”

For a brief moment, Hibari let out his signature threatening aura, sending the best of chills down Yamamoto's spine. Vacations may be important, but he would be lying if he said that he didn’t miss standing besides Hibari on a battlefield.

God, if he wasn’t gritting his teeth with rage that he wasn’t going on this mission.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way, Kyo.”

With the help of two pairs of hands, Yamamoto was ready to go and in no time, they were on their way to the Vongola Mansion.

__

The Vongola Mansion didn’t change in Hibari’s ausence. The entrance was as pristine as ever, the garden was still meticulously taken care of and the members of the family were still coming and going despite the early hour. The only real difference was the unusual amount of cars at the entrance, but Hibari didn’t take long to deduce an answer for that.

As the duo entered, they were quickly escorted to the entrance of a secluded room by a subordinate, who after doing her duty and saying a polite farewell, left in a hurry. Alone, Hibari and Yamamoto hesitated to open the door just yet.

A quick side glance at Yamamoto was enough to see how much he wanted to keep a cool façade, and how much he was failing at it. It was always the little things: lips pressed a smidge too hard, the way he was unconsciously picking at the skin on his fingers, shoulders tensed just one percent more than usual. Even the way he jumped as he felt Hibari’s hand on his shoulder was too unusual for his relaxed demeanor.

Maybe disobeying Tsunayoshi’s strict orders was a tad bit too nerve-wracking for Yamamoto.

“Let’s pretend I came on my own volition.” Hibari said, unsatisfied as Yamamoto kept his frown.

“No… I don’t want you to take the blame alone.”

“If Tsuna truly expected me to not come, he would have put better measures.”

“I mean, yeah, but still…”

“Don’t make things harder for yourself. I promise the look on his face will be worth it.”

A little smile appeared on Yamamoto’s face. “You promise? I would love a good laugh right now.”

“He won’t know what hit him.” Hibari said, as he leaned forwards to give Yamamoto a quick kiss on the lips. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks, Kyoya.”

Hibari had already turned at the corridor when he heard the door being closed. It was hard to make an accurate prediction, but considering the average of past briefing sessions, Hibari guessed he had 20 minutes to come up with… something.

The vague idea sounded much more plausible in the heat of the moment, but as he walked out in the garden, reality suddenly decided to hit like a truck.

It could be mentioned that comedy didn’t come naturally for Hibari in the first place, but the more pressing issue there was that the few people he cared about in the world were about to go on a big mission, and he had no saying in what would happen with them.

Yes, he wasn’t deployed on every mission, but he could count on one hand the times that he was deliberately excluded, and deliberately excluded from such an apparent import event? Unheard of.

A mix of rage, confusion and indignation was building inside his chest, and the ever so familiar feeling of wanting to take his tonfas and beat  _ something  _ to a pulp would be quite easy to quelch as he stood in front of a new fountain that just so happened to be in Tsunayoshi’s preferred style. 

Very easy and tempting indeed, yet, he knew himself well enough to also know that beating the fountain would just leave him frustrated and unsatisfied. What or who would be a good opponent in this situation anyway? Tsunayoshi with his ever so cryptic plans? Whonever was the mysterious enemy that they were dealing with? Anyone able to take a beating? A damn fountain? The vague concept of abandonment? The nagging fear of being completely useless while they were slaughtered at some unknown corner of the world?

Probably a mix of all of the above. Or none at all. It’s hard to pinpoint a clear solution when the clock was ticking away and the rest of the guardians would leave at any second, with the worst case scenario being that Hibari was still angsting in the garden, unable to have a proper goodbye.

He would have plenty of time to do that alone. Now, it was time to keep composure, and start practicing his lines for an impactful goodbye.

He truly did want to keep his earlier promise with Yamamoto, but as he made his way to the entrance of the mansion, each hypothetical smart-ass way of revealing that he was there created a sense of pure, unfiltered cringe. It was a disappointing self-discovery that the fearsome, strongest Vongola guardian Hibari Kyoya couldn’t even manage a bombastic entrance on command, even if he had been staring at nothing trying to come up with something for around 15 minutes.

It was around Hypothetical Scenario #14 that he heard a suspicious number of footsteps coming from inside the mansion. His expression managed to stay relatively calm, but there was little he could do to stop his racing heart as he saw the doors opening.

Gokudera was the first one to see the uninvited guest, but considering the already half-smoked cigarette and deep dark circles under his eyes, it was pretty safe to assume he was too tired to be angry at Hibari.

“What are you doing here?”

In the few milliseconds he had to think of a strategy, Hibari decided to use his last resort: saying what he actually felt.

“Did you truly now expect me not to come?”

“He got a point there, Gokudera” Ryohei added, coming out of the mansion carrying two traveling bags. “Came here to say goodbye? That’s extremely welcome at the moment!”

Gokudera squinted his eyes at Ryohei, who still kept a shining smile, contrasting with the heavy mood of the moment.

“I suppose. In actuality…” Hibari said, turning to Gokudera. “I told myself that I would bite you to death for your little joke, but I think I have a better way to make you suffer.”

Gokudera seemed to have understood what Hibari was doing, but it didn’t make him any more amused. “And that would be?”

“Helena Jones is the worst author I have ever read in my entire life and her theories are awful.” 

The tiredness inside Gokudera’s eyes was replaced by a fiery rage. Had it been for a serious topic, Hibari would have felt a little chill down his spine, but considering it was about aliens, it was just hilarious.

Just as Gokudera was about to yell something back at Hibari, the cloud guardian continued to talk.

“So, make sure you have a list of why I should listen to that woman when you come back. Or else, I will keep my initial plan of beating you.”

The anger subsided a little as he started to notice the deeper meanings, and just as he was about to reply, Ryohei put an arm on his shoulders.

“You guys are talking about what? You almost got Gokudera to yell in his extremely-mega-tired stage!”

“Aliens. We shall discuss it at our next bar outing. You are invited.”

Ryohei was almost sparkling as he heard Hibari’s invitation. “You? Organizing an outing? Maybe we SHOULD go on more dangerous missions leaving the people we love behind!”

There was no time to digest what Ryohei said when he also made sure to bring both Hibari and Gokudera into a bear hug.

“Let’s talk about this Jones alien when we get back! Oh Hibari, Hana just gave me another suggestion for a good bar, we GOTTA try it.”

“If you don’t let me out in five seconds I will explode everything right now.” Gokudera basically hissed, trying to break the embrace as hard as he could together with Hibari. Unfortunately for them, Ryohei both really liked hugs, and really loved the opportunity to annoy the grumpiest of guardians.

His little prank was stopped prematurely as they saw Tsuna coming out of the mansion, followed by Yamamoto. Quickly, the trio separated, with the silent understanding that the time for jokes was over. With a nod, Hibari said his goodbyes to both Gokudera and Ryohei, watching as they entered one of the cars.

“Hello, Hibari. Not surprising to see you here.” Tsuna tone carried no surprise nor malice, as if he was merely stating a fact. Despite having the same circles under his eyes, he greeted his guardian with an honest smile.

Hibari couldn’t really do the same, and the brief look at Yamamoto showed that he wasn’t in the best mood to smile either.

“...Yes.”

He would have to work through that anger later, because as much as he wanted to shake Tsunayoshi by the shoulders and yell all kinds of questions about the situation, it just wasn’t the right situation.

“I plan to not break our earlier promise.”

“You should include yourself on that too. No life, Tsunayoshi.”

Tsuna was surprised for a second, before his smile returned. “A good addition, as always. Now… should I leave you two alone?”

He didn’t wait for the obvious answer, and just before he entered the car, he gave one last hand-wave before disappearing into the black vehicle. 

The tension on Yamamoto’s face was almost palpable, and that alone would have been enough for Hibari to hop onto the first plane he saw to finish the mission himself, but unfortunately, sometimes things were simply not that easy.

“I… probably won’t be able to talk much to you. If at all. Very dense mission, against very… dangerous people. Can’t risk tracking.”

“I suspected as much.”

A sad laugh escaped Yamamoto’s lips. “Yeah, suppose it was obvious.”

A puppy abandoned in the rain would have a happier expression than Yamamoto at that moment.

Many things could have been said, but Hibari had a feeling that none would do the proper job of comforting, reassuring and calming down Yamamoto at the same time. Maybe neither would a hug, but that didn’t stop him from putting his arms around Yamamoto, pulling him into an embrace.

It took no time for Yamamoto to reciprocate, burying his head onto Hibari’s shoulder. 

“Don’t die. Even in glory.”

“I won’t, Kyoya. I promise.”

It was enough words. They didn’t know how long they passed silently embracing each other, but as the car engines started up, they knew it was time to say goodbye.

“See you later, dear. I love you.”

Hibari leaned in for one last kiss. “I love you too.”

He watched as the cars left the mansion, and stayed on that spot even after they were gone, only prompted to leave as he felt the first pangs of pain in his legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terribly sorry for the late update. Glad I was able to get at least one chapter up in February!
> 
> I made some calculations, and we might have around 7 chapters left, give or take. Not a number set in stone, but arooound what I have in mind. 
> 
> Any feedback is welcome, thank you for reading!


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